Australia Westpac Leading Index (MoM) climbed from previous -0.04% to 0.1% in December

EUR/USD trades marginally lower on the day near 1.1750 in the European session on Friday. The data from Germany and the Eurozone showed that the business activity in private sector expanded at a modest pace in January, helping the Euro hold its ground. In the second half of the day, US PMI data will be watched closely.

The United Kingdom docket has the Retail Sales data for December to be released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Friday, later this session at 07:00 GMT. UK Retail Sales are expected to decline by 0.1% month-over-month in December, following a 0.1% decline seen in November. 

Gold loses its traction and declines toward $4,900 after touching a new record-high near $4,970 earlier in the day. The modest US Dollar recovery ahead of US PMI data causes XAU/USD to stretch lower, while investors keep a close eye on geopolitics.

Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple show mixed signals at the time of writing on Friday as the broader crypto market attempts to stabilize after this week’s sell-off. BTC extends its recovery after finding support around a key level.

What began as a sharp escalation risk quickly turned into a de-escalation signal. Earlier this week, markets briefly priced in escalation risk after Donald J. Trump proposed a 10% tariff hike on eight NATO nations amid the Greenland dispute.

Tron (TRX) price extends its gains, trading above $0.30 at the time of writing on Friday after retesting the previously broken bullish breakout structure earlier this week. The positive on-chain and derivatives data back the bullish price action.