1. Bad week for the USD

Despite recent recovery, the dollar is on track for a losing week as continuing tensions in North Korea boosted the safe-haven assets such as the Japanese currency (JPY).

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against a basket of six rival currencies, steadied at 100.590, slightly higher on the day but down 0.6% for the week.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that North Korea is a problem that "will be taken care of," as China urged caution and speculation rose that Pyongyang might be on the verge of a sixth nuclear test. The Pentagon declined to comment on an NBC report about possible pre-emptive action against the rogue state.

2. Gold, Oil trading higher

Gold prices traded higher on Thursday, as investors continued to back the precious metal amid geopolitical concerns while mostly upbeat economic data failed to weigh on sentiment.

Gold for June delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange added $10.05, or 0.78%, to $1,288.15 a troy ounce by 13:39 EDT. Gold is on track for its best week since June.

Gold prices shrugged off upbeat economic data as investors continued to pour into safe haven assets such as gold amid concerns geopolitical tensions could escalate, as a U.S. carrier group sailed towards the Korean Peninsula.

Crude settled higher on Thursday, after the International Energy Agency said the oil demand and supply imbalance was close to breakeven, after several developed countries reined in production.

The IEA said the global oil market is close to balance, after three years of excess supply, as oil stockpiles across The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries fell by 17.2 million barrels in March.

3. Race tightens in France

France's presidential election race looked tighter than it has all year on Friday with just nine days to go until voting begins as a new opinion poll put the four leading candidates just three percentage points apart.

The two highest scorers in the first round on April 23 will go through to contest a run-off on May 7.

According to a poll by Ipsos-Sopra Steria, centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen were tied on 22 percent each, with the far-left's Jean-Luc Melenchon and conservative Francois Fillon on 20 and 19 percent respectively.

That made the most likely second-round scenario one that pits Le Pen against Macron - a scenario that is consistent with most other surveys. The poll showed Macron winning that face-off with 63 percent of votes. Other polls have also been showing the race tightening during April, with the two leaders losing ground and the chasing pair, especially Melenchon, picking up support.

4. Meanwhile in Afghanistan

In its second major display of military might in one week, the U.S dropped its most powerful non-nuclear bomb on ISIS positions in a remote part of Afghanistan.

Afghan officials said 36 militants were killed in the strike in Nangarhar province, near the Pakistan border. The US military previously estimated ISIS had 600 to 800 fighters operating in the area.

On Thursday night, a GBU-43/B Massive Ordinance Air Blast bomb, capable of destroying an area equivalent to nine city blocks, was dropped on a network of fortified underground tunnels ISIS had been using to stage attacks on government forces.