LONDON, Dec 5 Reuters The U.S. dollar stood near a oneweek high against a basket of currencies on Tuesday, ahead of a flurry of employment data that could upend investor expectations for the interest rate outlook.

The yuan held steady in the face of a downgrade to the outlook for China39;s credit rating from Moody39;s, as major stateowned banks stepped in to stem any slide by selling dollars.

The euro took a modest early knock from comments by European Central Bank member Isabel Schnabel, who said in an interview with Reuters that interest rate hikes were off the table, given the recent remarkable fall in inflation.

Bitcoin held close to its highest since April last year, near 42,000, as a decline in the dollar in recent weeks has diverted cash into riskier assets.

Investors are keenly awaiting Friday39;s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for November. But before then, the monthly JOLTS report which captures monthly hirings and firings lands on Tuesday and the privatesector ADP survey is due on Wednesday.

Both could shape expectations for Friday39;s number and make for volatile trading in the runup, given the power of monetary policy expectations to drive currencies right now.

The market39;s main focus now is still very much on what central banks are going to do next year in terms of policy. We39;ve had this very dramatic dovish repricing of rate expectations for both the Fed and the ECB over the past week, so that39;s certainly having an impact on FX markets, MUFG…