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Ahead of the November US non-farm payrolls report, we have seen a massive slide in equity prices and then a decent rebound on Thursday as the indices tested their respective support level.

Much like we saw with the Bank of England meeting getting overshadowed by Brexit developments earlier this week, traditional market-moving economic releases are taking a back seat to geopolitical developments in the US as well.

Ahead of the October US non-farm payrolls report, we have seen a massive slide in the dollar. It was only Wednesday when the Dollar Index briefly breached the August high to climb to its best level since June 27, before dropping sharply a day later on Thursday.

As you might expect from the undeniably “risk-off” tone throughout the month of October, the “safe haven” Japanese yen was last month’s best-performing major currency. The big surprise, however, came from a different safe haven currency; the Swiss franc was the weakest major on the month, edging out the euro.

As my colleague Fawad Razaqzada astutely highlighted in yesterday’s NFP Preview report, “wage growth has taken on increased importance than the actual jobs number given concerns about rising levels of inflation and in turn interest rates.” That dynamic is playing out in spades as traders digest today’s jobs report.

The most eye-catching moves in the markets at the start of this month have been the sharp rises in government bond yields, causing a bit of fireworks in the equity markets in the second half of this week.

Next week is set to be another interesting one as the fourth quarter officially gets underway.

In a world where financial media sensationalizes every US jobs report as “The Most Important Jobs Report Ever,” even the most bombastic personalities had to admit today’s release was relatively insignificant, at least as far as Non-Farm Payroll reports go.

September has started with a bang with emerging market currencies, commodities and stocks all selling off. More fireworks could be on the way as we head to the final day of the week with jobs data from both North American nations set to hit the wires on Friday, potentially moving the US and Canadian dollars sharply in one or the other direction.

As we noted yesterday ahead of today’s NFP release, “[There have been] no signs that a pickup in price pressures is imminent, [and therefore] the Federal Reserve is content to stick with its gradual, every-other-meeting rate hike schedule…”. Today’s US jobs report will do little to blow the Fed off course.

Not too long ago, traders used to refer the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly Non-Farm Payrolls report as “the jobs report,” but more recently, market participants have been referring to it as “the wage report.”

Before this eventful week is over, there’s just the small matter of the US monthly employment report to consider.