The Indian rupee hit an all-time low on Friday, pressured by a firm dollar and as regional currencies stayed on the defensive ahead of the keenly awaited U.S. nonfarm payrolls report. The rupee dropped to a record low of 85.

The latest snapshot of the US labor market affirmed what Federal Reserve officials have made clear in recent days: Interest-rate cuts are on hold for the foreseeable future.

Minutes suggest that Fed policymakers were already returning to the data-dependent mindset in the face of the incoming Trump administration. Now investors can only wait and hope.

The U.S. dollar rallied on Friday after data showed the world's largest economy created more jobs than expected last month, reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve will pause its rate-cutting cycle at its policy meeting later this month.

Wall Street stocks slumped and the dollar climbed on Friday as a robust US jobs report dimmed hopes of further interest rate cuts.

US employers added a surprisingly strong 256,000 jobs in December, dimming hopes that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates anytime soon — which sparked a sell-off on Wall Street. The blowout number from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics — a massive jump from the month before that economists took as a sign the job market is recovering from a mid-2024 stumble — pushed back traders’ bets for the central bank to cut rates to September

The U.S. job market again defied an anticipated slowdown, with firms adding more than a quarter of a million jobs in the last full month of Joe Biden's presidency and leaving Federal Reserve policymakers to puzzle over the need for more interest rate cuts in a strong economy.