In European Equity Markets stocks closed sharply lower on Friday, as heightened fears of a trade war shook global markets. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down 0.8 percent. Europe’s autos led the losses, off by 2 percent amid escalating concerns of a tit-for-tat trade war. Next was a rare gainer on the Stoxx 600, jumping to the top of the European benchmark after optimistic comments from the British clothing chain’s CEO Simon Wolfson. The company reported an 8 percent fall in annual profit in 2017, saying it was the most challenging year the company had faced in 25 years. GlaxoSmithKline was also trading higher after it pulled out of the bidding for Pfizer’s consumer health business.

In Currency Markets the US dollar hovered near a one-month low against a basket of major currencies on Friday and was on course for its biggest weekly drop in five as investors worried that escalating trade tensions could hurt global growth. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.3 percent at 89.585. For the week, the index was down 0.7 percent. Sterling was up 0.47 percent after Bank of England rate-setter Gertjan Vlieghe said that interest rates will probably need to rise once or twice a year over the next few years, comments that are likely to help cement investors’ expectations of a BoE rate hike in May.

In Commodities Markets crude prices rose on Friday, hitting their highest since late January after the Saudi energy minister said OPEC and allied producers would need to keep coordinating supply cuts into 2019, and as concerns grew over the future of Iranian crude exports. Brent crude futures hit a session high of $70.22 a barrel before retreating to $70.13 by, up $1.22 or 1.77 percent. For the week, Brent was up about 5.9 percent, its strongest weekly rise since July. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $65.34 a barrel, up $1.04, or 1.6 percent. On the week, WTI was up about 4.4 percent.

In US Equity Markets Nike and energy companies led modest gains in U.S. stocks on Friday, amid lingering fears of a trade war, although a Micron-led decline in semiconductor companies kept gains in check. The S&P 500 rose 0.08 percent to 2,645.88 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.15 percent to 7,155.72. Nike shares rose 3.2 percent after the company said it expected North America business to return to growth in the latter half of the year. Micron Technology fell about 5 percent after Citigroup downgraded the chip-maker, citing falling NAND prices. The company, however, posted better-than-expected quarterly results on Thursday.

In Bond Markets Spanish government bond yields were at their lowest in over a year ahead of a potential ratings upgrade later on Friday that would take Spain’s credit rating firmly into single A territory and further ahead of its peripheral peers. Spanish 10-year government bond yields hit a fresh 15-month low of 1.265 percent, down 2 basis points on the day on Friday. They’ve fallen for the last four straight weeks, down 10 basis points alone this week. The Spanish/Italian 10-year bond yield spread was at 61 bps, which is historically high, even if it is not quite as wide as it was earlier this year.