Dollar retreats modestly before U.S. job data

At 4:12 a.m. ET, the dollar index which measures the greenback against major peers, was down 0.14% at 96.126 and set for weekly gains of about 0.5%

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The dollar retreated slightly on Friday but was still on course to gain over the week before the release of U.S. labor data that investors think could reinforce the case for early Federal Reserve interest rate hikes

Data showed German exports grew in November despite persisting supply bottlenecks in manufacturing, while industrial output fell

The euro rose 0.13% to $1.1315 in morning trading in Europe but was down about 0.5% for the week against the greenback

At 4:12 a.m. ET, the dollar index which measures the greenback against major peers, was down 0.14% at 96.126 and set for weekly gains of about 0.5%

The yen has been the most prominent casualty of the dollar’s strength in the first trading week of the year, as investors reckon the Bank of Japan will lag others on rate hikes

The greenback hit a five-year peak on the yen at 116.35 on Tuesday and hovered around 115.81 on Friday

It is up about 0.6% on the yen this week and about 2.7% over five weeks. The dollar is also eyeing its best week in more than a month against the Australian and New Zealand dollars

The release on Federal Reserve meeting minutes on Wednesday supported expectations that the Fed could raise rates as soon as March and several times this year, pushing up U.S. yields and the currency

On Thursday, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said the Fed could start reducing its balance sheet soon after it begins hiking. Even dovish San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said the balance sheet reduction would follow normalizing rates

“It’s a surprise the dollar hasn’t done better this week on the surge in Treasury yields and the hawkish FOMC minutes”, said Kenneth Broux, an FX strategist at Societe Generale in London

Elsewhere, sterling has held its own this week as traders figure the Bank of England will soon begin its own hiking path. It last bought $1.3546, not far from Tuesday’s two-month high of $1.3599. It is near a two-year high on the euro

The big moves in the U.S. bond market have unsettled traders’ sentiment across asset classes. Cryptocurrencies have dropped sharply in thin holiday trade

Bitcoin hit its lowest since September in Asia trading at $40,939 but recouped some losses and ticked up to $42,445