In Asian Equity Markets stocks fell on Friday, tracking sharp falls in U.S. and European stocks, which took a hit on fears of a potential trade war. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 4.12 percent after earlier falling to its lowest levels in around five months. Major exporters were downbeat, with Toyota falling 3.17 percent and Sony losing 3.11 percent. Meanwhile, Seoul’s benchmark Kospi index lost 2.24 percent, as shares fell broadly. Technology names fell sharply, with heavyweight Samsung Electronics falling 2.63 percent. In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 slid 2.04 percent as all sectors traded in the red. Declines were led by the materials subindex, which lost 2.97 percent. Oil producers were also weaker.

In Currency Markets the yen hit a 16-month high against the dollar on Friday, while the Turkish lira skidded to a record low, as concerns over rising global trade tensions triggered a bout of investor risk aversion. The yen rose broadly amid talk of position unwinding by Japanese retail investors, who had held long positions in higher-yielding currencies such as the Turkish lira against the Japanese currency. The dollar fell to as low as 104.635 yen in early Asian trade on Friday, the greenback’s lowest level since November 2016, as the Japanese currency pushed higher. The dollar was last down 0.4 percent at 104.90 yen.

In Commodities Markets oil prices jumped more than 1 percent on Friday, pushed up by Saudi plans for OPEC and Russian led production curbs introduced in 2017 to be extended into 2019 in order to tighten the market. The rise in oil prices defied global stock markets, which fell on the back of worries about a trade stand-off between the United States and China. But gold, seen as a safe-haven in times of economic turmoil, rallied to a two-week high on Friday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $64.99 a barrel, up 69 cents, or 1.1 percent, from their previous close. Brent crude futures were at $69.54 per barrel, up 63 cents, or 0.9 percent.

In US Equity Markets stocks fell on Thursday as President Donald Trump’s move to impose tariffs on up to $60 billion of Chinese imports drove fears about the impact on the global economy, fueling the biggest percentage declines in Wall Street’s three major indexes since they entered correction territory six weeks ago. Major industrials declined. Plane maker Boeing Co lost 5.2 percent, Caterpillar Inc fell 5.7 and 3M Co lost 4.7. The three were among the biggest drags on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The S&P industrials sector fell 3.28 percent. The S&P 500 lost 2.52 percent, to 2,643.69, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 2.43 percent, to 7,166.68.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury prices gained on Thursday on rising risk aversion as President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum on Thursday that could impose tariffs on up to $60 billion of imports from China. Benchmark 10-year notes gained 18/32 in price to yield 2.841 percent, down from 2.907 percent on Wednesday.  Japanese government bonds (JGBs) pushed higher on Friday as worries over rising global trade tensions triggered a slide in equities and sparked flight-to-safety buying of government debt. The benchmark 10-year JGB yield fell around 1 basis point to 0.020 percent, matching a low last reached on Nov. 22.