• The U.S. dollar wobbled near three-week lows and U.S. bonds were bought back with the 10-year yield at one-month lows on Friday, as investors wound back 'Trump trade', helping to lift the world's stocks to 1-1/2-year highs.
The dollar's index against a basket of six major currencies .DXY =USD tumbled to 101.40, falling more than two percent from its 14-year high of 103.82 set on Tuesday.
The dollar slumped to a three-week low of 115.21 yen JPY=, having shed 1.6 percent on Thursday, its biggest fall in five months. It last stood at 115.54 yen.
The euro also posted its biggest gain in seven months, of 1.1 percent, on Thursday and last fetched $1.0590 EUR=.
• The economy cranked out another 153,000 private sector jobs last month, according to the ADP National Employment Report.
“Job growth remains strong but is slowing,” noted Moody's Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi. “The gap between employment growth in the service economy and losses on the goods side persists. Smaller companies are struggling to maintain payrolls while large companies are expanding at a healthy pace.”
• The number of initial jobless claims filed last week remained below the 300,000 level for a 96th consecutive week -- the longest streak since 1970.
The Labor Department (DOL) reports there were 235,000 initial applications for state unemployment benefits filed in the week ending December 31 -- down 28,000 from the previous week.
• U.S. services sector activity held at a one-year high in December as new orders surged, while the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell to near a 43-year-low last week, suggesting the economy ended 2016 with strong momentum.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) report on Thursday also showed a sustained increase in prices paid by services industries for inputs, potentially signaling that the days of very low inflation could be coming to an end.
• West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 settled up 50 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $53.76 a barrel. Brent crude LCOc1 rose 43 cents, or 0.8 percent, to settle at $56.89 a barrel, after hitting a session high of $57.35.
Oil prices rose on Thursday in an up-and-down session, lifted by news that Saudi Arabia had cut production to meet OPEC's agreement to reduce output after prices fell on data showing a surprisingly large increase in U.S. gasoline and distillate inventories.
Saudi Arabia cut oil output in January by at least 486,000 barrels a day to 10.06 million barrels a day, according to a Gulf source familiar with Saudi oil policy. That would mean the world's largest crude producer was holding up its end of a November agreement by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC, Consumer Affairs
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