The dollar remained at the back foot against majors in mid-Friday trading, after spiking higher in early Asian hours and posting fresh 8-month high against Japanese yen. The dollar index eased 0.4% until now, trading in extended consolidation under fresh 14-year high at 102.11.

Japanese yen pared overnight’s losses quickly and hit session high at 112.54 against the dollar, gaining over 1% on pullback from USDJPY’s session high at 113.88. The pair so far found footstep, however, extended dips on profit-taking at the end of the week cannot be ruled out, as pullback in US bond yields may trigger stronger profit-taking on dollar’s best run in nearly two years.

Sterling remained neutral on Friday, hovering between strong support and resistance points and showing no clear direction for the third straight day. The pound remained resilient to dollar’s recent strong rally and kept in overall neutral mode during the past week.

Global equities rallied on Friday as dollar retreated. Black Friday’s trading is going to close earlier, due to the second day of US holiday, with US Stock indexes being higher, as focus turns on retailers. Thanksgiving and Black Friday kick off the holiday shopping season, which is crucial for retailers as it accounts for as much as 40% of annual sales.

The three main U.S. indexes have hit all-time highs and closed at record levels multiple times in the past few days, most recently on Wednesday, when industrial stocks boosted the Dow and the S&P 500 to record-high closes.

European equities were steady in morning business, with a rally in defensive sectors such as healthcare and utilities offsetting weaker banking and commodities stocks. Britain’s FTSE100 Index was up 0.25%, while DAX and CAC40 edged lower., Market Analysis