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Sterling and the New Zealand and Australian dollars were the main losers among major currencies in early European trade on Monday, extending losses as the dollar continued to draw support from Friday's strong US jobs data.

Both the Aussie and the kiwi were hurt by trade numbers from China showing a sharp drop in imports with another 1 percent slide from oil also feeding sales of currencies traditionally dependent on commodity prices.

Among big events for markets this week are the European Central Bank's second offer of targeted loans (TLTRO) to banks and speeches by a handful of U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers ahead of next week's final policy meeting of the year.

"The jobs numbers supported the dollar and we expect this trend to continue ahead of the Fed meeting as interest rate expectations continue to adjust," said Josh O'Byrne, a strategist with Citi in London.

The surprisingly robust US jobs data bolstered the view that the Fed could raise interest rates sooner than expected next year and the dollar was up another 0.1 percent against a basket of currencies in early European trade.

Most major banks continue to predict further gains for the dollar against its major peers in 2015, although the surge past 120 yen has left some wondering how much juice there still is in the yen trade, at least for now.

There is also Japan's general election on Dec. 14 to contend with, currently seen as likely to give a boost to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and reflationary policies which weaken the yen.

The euro fell further in early trade in Europe, hitting a low of $1.2252 after comments from ECB policymaker Ewald Nowotny highlighting the weakness of the euro zone economy.

"We expect the euro to continue to weaken in the week ahead," analysts from French bank BNP Paribas said in a note to clients. "Another low TLTRO uptake could put some upside pressure on euro front-end rates. However, low demand would also increase the chances of an increase in asset purchases (by the ECB) early next year."

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American companies added 208,000 net new jobs in November, posting another solid though slightly disappointing month of labor market gains, payroll firm Automatic Data Processing said Wednesday.

The figure was down from an upwardly revised 233,000 private-sector jobs created in October, ADP said. November’s total also came in below the 225,000 analysts had expected.

Still, the closely watched figure indicates that the economy is continuing its nearly yearlong stretch of strong job growth.

“Steady as she goes in the job market,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, which assists ADP in preparing the report. “Monthly job gains remain consistently over 200,000.”

Zandi predicted that the pace would lead to the unemployment rate dropping by 0.5 percentage points a year.

Economists expect the Labor Department to report Friday the private and public sectors added a combined 230,000 net new jobs in November and that the unemployment rate held steady at a more-than-six-year-low of 5.8 percent.

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Gold climbed as oil prices increased and on signs of more physical purchases from Asia. Platinum and palladium rose.

Brent crude advanced for the second time in three days, as a rout to the lowest since 2009 prompted by OPEC’s failure to curb production faltered. Gold traders often track the cost of oil, which can impact consumer costs and inflation.

“Crude is more positive, which means gold should be supported,” Sin said today by phone. “Physical demand overall is quite robust. Bargain hunters will come in every time we see a dip.”

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index reached the highest since 2009 before data on Dec. 5 that may show American employers added more than 200,000 jobs for a 10th month, boosting the case for tighter US monetary policy.

“The expectation for the US economic recovery to continue, and the lower inflation outlook because of falling oil prices will keep precious metals under pressure,” Mark To, head of research at Wing Fung Financial Group, a trader and refiner in Hong Kong, wrote in a note. “Investors will keep an eye out for the US payroll report.”

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Asian equities rose on Tuesday, with a rebound in crude oil and other commodity prices favoring the stock markets of resource-exporting countries.

Crude oil held on to its gains after rebounding sharply overnight from five-year lows. The bounce in commodities including iron ore, copper and gold was also good for commodity currencies such as the Canadian and Australian dollars.

"Yesterday much of the move higher right across the entire commodity complex... suggests that there was a strong element of people increasing their allocation to commodities, taking advantage of these low prices," said Mark Keenan, head of commodities research Asia at Societe Generale.

The dollar was steady at 118.480 yen but then jumped to a seven-year high of 119.15.

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The UK's manufacturing sector continued to recover from its autumnal slowdown, with a closely-watched gauge beating expectations in November.

Although the UK's economic recovery has slowed somewhat recently, it remains one of the strongest stories among the major developed economies. Sterling's strength earlier this year has weighed on industry, but the currency's recent slide is another fillip.

Markit economist Rob Dobson wrote that despite the slower pace of expansion compared to earlier this year, “growth is still coming from a broad-base that will aid its sustainability".

The Eurozone’s manufacturing outlook is much glummer, with the manufacturing PMI for the common currency area dipping dangerously close to the 50 mark that signals the difference between contraction and expansion of activity last month.

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Oil prices extended their losses and sunk to fresh four-year lows on Thursday as expectations of a cut in OPEC oil production faded following the Saudi Arabian oil minister’s comments Wednesday.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries meets in Vienna within a few hours to decide whether its members will cut production to remove some of the glut in supply in global markets and boost oil prices.

The 12-member oil cartel typically steps in to adjust output when prices move sharply due to excess or insufficient supply. It currently has an oil production ceiling of 30 million barrels a day and has been producing in excess of this level in recent months. Read: A brief, wondrous history of OPEC landmark events

Crude-oil prices have plummeted this year, losing almost 30% of their value since June, mainly due to rising US oil production driven by the shale boom and slowing demand growth in Asia and Europe.

Analysts say that OPEC will need to cut oil production much lower than its current ceiling for prices to make a significant recovery. Today’s OPEC meeting and any decision on production cuts is likely to set the tone for oil prices for the next few months and well into 2015. Read: We’re about to find out if OPEC’s cartel still has sway.

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