Currencies move sparsely. While the dollar fell on Thursday, the South African rand strengthened, the rupee opened higher on Friday.

The rand traded at 17,1275 against the dollar, 0.23% more than its previous close at 06:09 GMT. The Dollar Index traded down 0.22% to 104.58. To see the rate decisions of a range of central banks, investors around the world will look back on the coming week. The Federal Reserve's policy decision takes center stage.

On the Indian rupee side, amid falling oil prices and as Asian currencies are pulled up by the Chinese yuan, it is expected to open higher against the dollar on Friday. Compared to its previous close of 82.42, the rupee was seen around 82.25-82.30 per dollar in early trading. After selling heavily before the event, the currency has stabilized since the Reserve Bank of India raised interest rates on Wednesday. Asian stocks and currencies rose, with the Chinese yuan rising 0.2%.

The dollar for its part is weakening against all currencies (the $-Index fell by -0.2% towards 104.90). Real estate prices fell by a historic magnitude of -2.3% in England in November. The pound rose by 0.25% against the dollar. The Swiss franc at 0.9360 fell by 0.5% against the Canadian dollar, compared with the greenback, which fell by -0.4% against the Euro towards 1.0540.

In line with expectations, the yield on T-Bonds rose by 6 PTS to 3.468% after unemployment benefits enrolments in the United States rose from +4,000 to 230,000. While inflation — which is certainly slowing — is still at very high levels everywhere, concerns about the health of the economy and the threat of the next recession (a major reversal of the US yield curve) are far from being allayed.