One of the early issues for next year will be an Italian election scheduled for March 4. As things currently stand the vote is expected to produce a hung parliament that could ultimately catapult the 81-year-old, four-times premier Silvio Berlusconi back to center stage.
Benchmark 10-year Italian government bond yields rose to fresh two-month highs on Friday at 1.99 percent. They started the year at just over 1.8 percent but are still under the highs of 2.6 percent hit back in March.
Dollar Disappoints
U.S. dollar bulls have not been fortunate this year. The widely held assumption at the start of the year was that, with the Federal Reserve set to raise interest rates further and lawmakers poised to cut taxes, the only way for the dollar was up.
Yet even though the Fed delivered on its three promised hikes and a tax bill was signed into law last week, the currency has failed to benefit.
Measured against its major peers the dollar has shed nearly 10 percent this year, putting it on track for its biggest annual loss since 2003. The dollar index fell 0.44 percent for the day.
Among the winners have been emerging markets and the euro, which is ahead almost 14 percent for the year and has turned in its best annual performance since 2003.
The dollar's loss has been a boon for commodities priced in the currency, which have also benefited from a synchronized pick up in global trade and surprisingly strong demand from China.
Everything from coal to iron ore has reaped gains, with copper a stand-out performer in part due to expectations of rising demand for the mass production of electric vehicles.
The industrial metal is turning in its largest annual gains since the global financial crisis ebbed in 2009, but moved a bit off its four-year highs on Friday. Copper futures last lost 0.51 percent to nearly $7,252 a tonne.