There was little in the way of notable FX.....>

FOREX: There was little in the way of notable FX flow during the session, ahead

of the much awaited U.S. NFP release later today.

- USD/JPY trades at unch. levels ~Y113.90, backing off after the Tokyo fix,

following a move up to Y114.10 on the first Go-tobi day of the month, as a heavy

Nikkei 225 added weight. EUR/JPY failed to breach Y131.00, with the 200-DMA

lingering just below the figure (Y130.96), following a false break Thursday.

- AUD & NZD have been the underperformers yet again, hovering at/around their

respective fresh YTD lows vs. USD as they remain under pressure. AUD/USD had

edged away from session/YTD lows post-AU retail sales (modest beat 0.3% M/M vs.

exp. 0.2%), before fading to a fresh marginal low as recovery efforts continue

to hold shallow. Elsewhere there was little reaction in AUD to comments from

RBA's Heath, who focused on theoretical aspects of the labour market. The

psychological $0.7000 level remains in play for AUD/USD bears, which is reported

to hold option-related support, while NZD/USD bears look to February 02 2016 low

($0.6462) as the next notable area of support.

- Attention shifts to U.S. NFPs, as well as various ECB & Fed speakers Friday.