CNBC Daily Open: South Korea’s markets power through troubles

This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe  here .

All eyes on U.S. jobs report
The U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for December will be released later Friday. Economists expect it to show an increase of 155,000 jobs, down from 227,000 in November, and the unemployment rate to remain unchanged at 4.2%. Analysts from Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, however, think both numbers will be worse than the consensus forecast.

U.S. markets dark, Europe markets close higher
U.S. markets were closed on Thursday in honor of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who died in late December at age 100. Europe's regional Stoxx 600 index added 0.42% after starting the day in negative territory. Denmark's Moller-Maersk fell 5.8% amid a wider sell-off in shipping stocks after a tentative labor deal was stuck by U.S. dockworkers.

Fed governor thinks December's cut should be 'final step'
U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said the Fed's December interest rate cut should be its "final step in the policy recalibration phase." That suggests that Bowman, who is a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, might oppose further cuts this year. Other Fed officials who spoke this week were more optimistic about lowering rates.

Ubisoft explores 'strategic and capitalistic options'
French video game publisher Ubisoft said on Thursday that it's appointed "leading advisors" to review options "to extract the best value for stakeholders." Ubisoft's founding Guillemot family and Tencent were reported in October to be considering a takeover of the firm. With Ubisoft shares at