The dollar is hovering ahead of the latest jobs report in America.
The US dollar index is little changed around 100.95 as of 7:38 a.m. ET following a few days of consolidation.
Regarding jobs day, economists forecast that the nonfarm payrolls report will show that the US economy added 180,000 jobs in November, and the unemployment rate held steady at 4.9%.
As for average hourly earnings, analysts forecast that they grew by 2.8% year-on-year, matching the post-recession high reached in October.
“Although net new jobs grab the headline, the market may be more sensitive to the details, especially the hourly earnings, understood as a measure of wage inflation and the tightness of the labor market,” wrote Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman.
Head over here for the full rundown on jobs day.
As for the rest of the world, here's the scoreboard as of 7:40 a.m. ET:
- The euro is little changed at 1.0648 against the dollar. Separately, there's a slew of political news in Europe this weekend. Italy is heading to the polls to vote on constitutional reforms and the future of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi over the weekend. Meanwhile Austria is voting for its next president after the run-off vote in May was annulled. The British pound is up by 0.3% at 1.2628 against the dollar. Earlier, data showed that Britain's construction sector unexpectedly rose to an eight-month high in November, with IHS Markit's purchasing manager's index coming in at 52.8. However, the pound's collapse against the dollar post-Brexit ramped up costs at the fastest pace in five years. The Russian ruble is down by 0.4% at 64.2322 per dollar, while Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, is down by 1.6% at $53.08 per barrel. The Japanese yen is little changed at 113.99 per dollar.