Not to jinx but a nascent sense of calm washed over world financial markets Friday, allowing the dollar to reclaim lost ground to the safe haven yen and push broadly higher. No more safety net for Chinese stocks, no problem – at least overnight. China’s discarding of circuit breakers that halted trading when stocks plunge 7% helped to restore order across global stock markets with the country’s main stock index ending Friday with a solid 2% gain. Oil, markets’ other chief concern at the outset of the year, rebounded from 12-year lows which helped commodity currencies from Australia, New Zealand and Canada steady. Traders also gravitated toward America’s currency ahead of the year’s first look at monthly hiring today which, if strong, could add bullish fuel to the dollar and keep the Federal Reserve on track to coax U.S. borrowing rates higher this year.

Gains in Chinese equities and oil Friday offered the Aussie dollar a hand up from three-month lows. The market calm, though, could prove short-lived, leaving the Aussie and other commodity counterparts from Canada and New Zealand on a fragile footing. Australian consumers throw Chinese caution to the wind, with retail sales up 0.4% in November, the fourth gain in as many months.

Canada’s dollar firmed above 12-year lows thanks to upticks in oil and local hiring. Canada netted 22,800 jobs in December, doubling up forecasts of 10,000. Unemployment steadied at 7.1%. All the job gains, though, came from parttime hires, which detracts from the otherwise solid headline number, and suggests limited positive traction for the loonie.

A floundering U.K. pound kept near five-year lows against the dollar with negative sentiment keeping in near multimonth lows against the euro. Data Friday showed Britain logged a smaller trade gap of £10.6 billion in November, down from £11.2 billion. But the news wasn’t enough to allay worries about slowing growth, keeping a U.K. rate hike off the radar for now. Uncertainty and a sense that Britain might have one foot out of the European Union has added to the U.K. currency’s travails.