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 Bets on a December Fed hike are very much back on following the
U.S. central bank's last meeting and the dollar's <.DXY> strength,
combined with the highest 2-year U.S. government bond yields
<US2YT=RR> since 2011 showed there were high hopes for the jobs
numbers.
The health of the U.S. jobs market is one of the key factors in the
Fed's thinking and economists polled by Reuters expect the data at
1330 GMT to show 180,000 jobs were added last month and the overall
unemployment rate staying 5.1 percent.<USNFAR=ECI><USUNR=ECI>
Investors in both Europe and Asia used the wait for the data to skim
off some of the week's profits in global stock markets.
Europe's main share markets in London <.FTSE>, Frankfurt <.GDAXI>
and Paris <.FCHI> dipped between 0.1 - 0.6 percent in early deals
after similar moves in Asia <.MIAPJ0000PUS> and a small slip by Wall
Street overnight.
 "The key from the payrolls today is not only the print but also
whether there is also a revision to last month’s weak number," said
Chris Wightman, a senior portfolio manager at Wells Fargo Asset
management.
"And everyone is going to look whether we see below 5 percent (for
overall unemployment rate)."
The main market action remained in currencies. The dollar was trying
to push the euro below $1.08 <EUR=> for the first time since April
and held steady at 121.84 yen <JPY=> after touching a 2 1/2-month
high of 122.01 on Thursday. [/FRX]
Traders and positioning data say money has piled in behind another
rally for the dollar over the past two weeks, but whether the
currency can build quickly on a more than 4 percent rise in the past
month depends on payrolls cementing expectations of a December rate
move.
Britain's sterling fell to a fresh one-month low against the dollar
and slipped against the euro too, a day after it had been sent
tumbling by the Bank of England kicking a UK rate hike down the
road.
It was last at $1.5169 <GBP=D4>, down 0.3 percent on day, while the
euro was up 0.2 percent at 71.65 pence <EURGBP=D4>.
CHINA REBOUND
Asian markets saw a largely subdued day despite more noises from
Japan's central bank that it is considering more stimulus amid
worries about the impact on its economy of China's current slowdown.
"If Japanese companies hold strong concerns over the outlook due to
developments in emerging economies, they may forgo capital
expenditure or narrow the margin of wage hikes," Kuroda said in a
speech.
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MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> edged down about 0.4 percent at 0620 GMT, though it
remained on track for a 0.8 percent weekly rise.
Japan's Nikkei <.N225> closed up 0.8 percent, ending the week up
almost 1 percent. The Shanghai Composite <.SSEC> extended earlier
gains to climb almost 2 percent, putting it on track for a jump of
6.2 percent for the week.
There was more positive news as China's securities regulator said it
would allow the resumption of initial public offerings, lifting a
suspension put into effect in July as regulators desperately tried
to slow a devastating stock market crash.
The stronger dollar added further pressure to crude oil futures,
which were already dragged down by oversupply concerns.
Brent hovered at $48.20 a barrel. U.S. crude <CLc1> edged up about
0.6 percent to $45.49 a barrel, after falling over 2 percent in the
previous session. It was still on track to lose 2.4 percent for the
week.
Other commodities also struggled, with London copper <CMCU3> sliding
to its lowest level in a month overnight. It sagged 0.3 percent to
$5,000 a tonne, it is set to end the week 1.3 percent lower, its
third consecutive weekly loss.
Spot gold <XAU=> recovered to $1,109.4 an ounce from an eight-week
low on Thursday, but it too was on track for a 2.8 percent loss for
the week.
(Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
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