European stocks took a step back, with the pan-European index FTSEurofirst down 0.36%. German trade balance for September came at 19.4B, less than expected and a touch worse than August's 19.6B; Germany's DAX index fell 32 points, or 0.30% to 10,955. Britain's FTSE index lost a meager 3 points, or 0.05% to 6,350. France's CAC fell 26 points, or 0.52% to 4,958.

Wall Street opened lower as investors grapple with the possibility of impending higher interest rates. Dow Jones shed 90 points, or 0.50% to 17,920. NASDAQ fell 24 points, or 0.47% to 5,122. S&P 500 lost 10 points, or 0.47% to 2,089.

Dollar tapered off some of its post-Payrolls gains, with its index down 0.07% to 99.22. It was almost flat against Euro at 1.0739. It lost 0.24% against Sterling to 1.5092. It kept the pressure on Yen however, rising 0.31% to 123.55.

Euro reversed course downward, with its index off 0.08% to 86.62. It lost 0.32% against Sterling to 0.7111. It was still up however against Yen, gaining 0.19% to 132.53.

Oil trading was mixed, with Brent oil futures rising 20 cents, or 0.37% to $48.35 a barrel. U.S. oil futures fell 15 cents, or 0.36% to $44.12 a barrel.

Canada's Housing Starts came at 198K for October, barely missing the forecast of 200K and much lower than September's 232K. Canadian dollar shrugged the results, rising 0.18% to C$1.3285. Australian dollar was flat at $0.7043.

Gold futures rose $1.20, or 0.11% to $1,088.60 an ounce. Silver futures fell 9 cents, or 0.65% to $14.59 an ounce.