Reuters

Asian stocks struggled on Friday after a technology-led drop on Wall Street, while U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar remained under pressure on signs that probes into possible Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections are gathering pace.

Gold on Friday held steady near seven-week highs hit earlier this week, as the dollar eased to hover near multi-month lows ahead of key monthly U.S. non-farm payrolls data later in the day.

The dollar struggled near a 2-1/2-year low against the euro and a seven-week trough versus the yen on Friday.

A gauge of world stocks declined as Wall Street dipped on Thursday, although European shares rallied, while sterling hit a nine-month low against the euro after the Bank of England’s policymakers kept interest rates unchanged.

The Canadian dollar weakened to a two-week low against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday.

Brazilian stocks dipped on Thursday as traders booked profits from a recent rally, though increased confidence in prospects for structural reforms in Latin America’s largest economy helped to curb losses.

The dollar fell against the euro on Thursday after softer-than-expected U.S. services sector data.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq fell on Thursday, weighed down by Amazon.com, Apple and other top-shelf technology stocks, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up to a seventh straight record high.

The Bank of England kept interest rates at a record low again on Thursday and cut its forecasts for growth and wages as it warned that Brexit was weighing on the economy.

Oil prices rose on Thursday, with signs of a tightening U.S. market spurring cautious buying by investors despite high crude supplies from producer club OPEC.