#OPINIONLEADER# Morning market update 02 12 2021: Minor gains in the DXY may partly reflect the currency's appeal as a safe haven amid lingering concerns about the new omicron variant of Covid. After reporting first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits at their lowest level in over fifty years in the previous week, the Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing a modest rebound by initial jobless claims in the week ended November 27th. "Claims data may continue to be noisy during the holiday period, but over time we expect initial claims will more consistently hover around pre-pandemic levels, assuming the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has only a moderate negative impact on the economy," said Nancy Vanden Houten, Lead Economist at Oxford Economics. Tonight at 21:30 GMT+8 has NFP where employment is expected to jump by 550,000 jobs in November after surging by 531,000 jobs in October, while the unemployment rate is expected to edge down to 4.5 percent from 4.6 percent. U.S. Weekly Jobless Claims Rebound From Fifty-Year Low: