These are the 5 most important things to know this Friday:
1. Dollar hits new 14-year high
The dollar climbed to fresh 14-year highs against the other major currencies on Friday, as optimism over the strength of the U.S. economy and growing expectations for a December rate hike by the Federal Reserve (Fed) continued to boost the greenback.
In her testimony to the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee on Thursday, Fed chair Janet Yellen revealed that the consensus at the central bank in the last policy meeting was that a rate hike could “become appropriate relatively soon if incoming data provide some further evidence of continued progress toward the Committee's objectives.”
That followed a strong reading on the labor market as initial jobless claims hit their lowest level since 1973.
The greenback hit fresh 14-year highs against a basket of major currencies Friday, marking an intraday high of 101.44. That was its highest level since April 2003.
2. ECB’s Draghi hints at keeping stimulus in place
European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi promised to maintain stimulus until it was clear that euro zone inflation was self-sustainable
"Going forward, our assessment will depend on whether we see a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation towards that objective," Draghi told the European Banking Conference in Frankfurt.
"And that means that inflation convergence towards 2% is durable, even with a reduction in monetary accommodation. Inflation dynamics, in other words, need to be self-sustained," he explained.
3. EUR on track for record losing streak
The euro-dollar was down for a 10th consecutive session on Friday, it’s longest losing streak since its creation in 1999.
The currency pair was hit by Draghi’s promise to maintain stimulus and Yellen’s indications that the Fed was likely to hike U.S. interest rates in December.
4. 10-year Treasury yield surges
The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield hit an intraday high of 2.341%, its highest since December.
It is up about 55 basis points over the last two weeks, making it the biggest fortnightly rise in 15 years and the second biggest in almost 30 years.
Rising bond yields across the globe also reflect a reassessment of the Fed's future monetary.
Markets currently price in the odds for a hike in December at 90.6%.
The chances for a second increase cross the 50% threshold for the meeting on June 14, 2017.
5. Oil slightly lower as investors wait for OPEC news
Oil prices traded slightly flat as market participants waited to see if any details would come from a reported meeting of some OPEC ministers and Russia in Qatar on Friday to discuss current negotiations on the plan to reduce oil output.
Analysts have been skeptical that members would accept cuts in their production.
Sources told Reuters that part of the eventual agreement involved Iran capping its production at around 3.92 million barrels per day, even though Tehran has constantly repeated that 4 million is the pre-sanction mark it wishes to reach before considering a freeze.
U.S. crude oil futures fell 0.13% to $45.36 at 11:02GMT, while Brent oil gained 0.15% to $46.56.