The dollar finished Friday's North American session on the front foot after US October non-farm payrolls came in at +165K versus +65K expected — a strong report across the board. Payrolls draw outsized attention each month because they feed directly into Fed policy expectations, and a print at more than double the forecast gives policymakers little urgency to cut rates. Fed's Daly later backed that read, calling the jobs report good news and hammering home the hawkish interpretation of the data.

North of the border, Canada's employment change for October was -4.7K versus a +13.6K estimate, with the unemployment rate at 6.7%. Another soft Canadian jobs report has economists questioning the wisdom of another rate hike this year, keeping upcoming Bank of Canada decisions squarely in focus.

Domestic data also beat expectations, as the University of Michigan's preliminary November consumer sentiment index registered 51.0 against a 48.0 forecast. November sentiment readings draw extra attention as a gauge of household spending appetite heading into the holiday shopping season.

Elsewhere, Bank of Japan Governor Ueda said consumer prices are now around 3% and are expected to rise further into early next year. Inflation running near those levels keeps the question of further BoJ policy normalization in play.

On geopolitics, reports said Iran responded positively to the latest mediator proposal and is reviewing proposals to curb its nuclear program. US President Donald Trump added: "We are talking to Iran, we are doing very well with Iran." Still, the headlines were not positive enough to really weigh on oil, with the diplomatic effort now appearing largely priced in ahead of something more concrete.

In Washington, Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles is set to be replaced by Stephen Miller. The chief of staff coordinates the White House's day-to-day operations, making it one of the most consequential staff roles in any administration.

Markets: Gold fell $22 to $4,065, US 10-year yields slipped 2.4 bps to 4.86%, WTI crude was flat at $90.50 and the S&P 500 rose 0.3%. USD led, with AUD lagging.

The day's main focus sat with tech and memory names. Neoclouds rebounded despite a report saying Microsoft was cutting down on data center third-party rentals as it reportedly winds down its Oracle deal to scale back AI cloud capacity. The news briefly weighed on the sector, but buyers held the line — third-party rental deals with hyperscalers are a core part of the neocloud business model, so any pullback by a major customer is read closely. Early in the session it looked like a big bounce was in the offing after Thursday's rout, but gains in memory names were tempered shortly after the open.

There was some good news after the close: OpenAI closed an $11 billion funding round at a $1.25 trillion valuation. The FT also reported that Anthropic continues to plan its IPO for this month and will raise $80-100 billion at a $1.25-1.75 trillion valuation. Back-to-back trillion-dollar-scale valuations underline how much capital is now concentrated in AI builders, and the FT-reported IPO timetable gives the sector a near-term focal point. That should help things out next week, provided no other surprises.

The earnings drama is far from over, with CoreWeave reporting on Tuesday and Nebius on Thursday, among others. With Microsoft reportedly trimming third-party rentals, those results will be watched for a demand read on AI infrastructure spending.

Source: investingLive — Americas market news wrap