In Asian Equity Markets stocks climbed on Friday, following U.S. peers higher, while Chinese property stocks rallied following a surprise interest payment by debt-ridden property developer China Evergrande Group. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.7 percent led by technology shares, while energy shares were the biggest drag. Chinese blue chips gained 0.3 percent, with the CSI300 Real Estate Index rising 2.5 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.4 percent, as an index tracking Hong Kong-listed mainland developers rallied 4.3 percent. Australia’s benchmark index fell 0.2 percent as commodity-linked shares fell.

In Currency Markets the dollar was heading for a second week of declines on Friday as sentiment stayed tilted towards riskier assets, while an intervention by the Australian central bank put a halt to the Aussie dollar’s recent rise. The dollar index was last at 93.733. The euro was little changed at $1.1627, while the yen wobbled within sight of its multi-year lows, with one dollar worth 114.01 yen, compared with 114.69 earlier in the week, a four-year low. The Australian dollar was at $0.7475, while the British pound paused for breath at $1.3798.

In US Equity Markets the S&P 500 boasted a record closing high and its seventh straight session of gains on Thursday while the Nasdaq was boosted by such high-profile stocks as Tesla Inc and Microsoft Corp but a decline in IBM shares weighed on the Dow. The Dow fell 0.02 percent, to 35,603.08, the S&P 500 gained 0.30 percent, to 4,549.78 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.62 percent, to 15,215.70. HP Inc gained 6.9 percent as brokerages raised their price targets on the stock after the personal computer and printer maker forecast upbeat fiscal 2022 adjusted profit and raised its annual dividend.

In Commodities Markets gold prices edged lower in choppy trading on Thursday, pressured by rising U.S. bond yields that countered support from concerns over rising inflation and China’s troubled property sector. Spot gold fell 0.1 percent to $1,780.61 per ounce. Among other precious metals, silver fell 0.8 percent to $24.08 per ounce. Platinum fell 0.5 percent to $1,044.83 per ounce. Palladium fell 2.6 percent to $2,018.45 per ounce. U.S. crude recently fell 2.58 percent to $81.27 per barrel and Brent was at $83.81, down 2.34 percent on the day.

In European Equity Markets stocks steadied at six-week highs on Thursday, as buying of defensives and growth stocks helped offset losses in miners and disappointing earnings forecasts, including from software major SAP. After declining as much as 0.6 percent, the Europe-wide STOXX 600 index ended down 0.1 percent at 469.71. Europe’s most valuable tech company SAP lost 3.2 percent and was the biggest drag on the STOXX 600 despite positive third-quarter results as traders were unimpressed by the company’s outlook, particularly its licensing forecast.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields rose on Thursday as a tighter labor market pointed to a recovering economy that renewed questions about the pace of inflation and when the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates. Yields on U.S. Treasuries notes also rose, with the benchmark 10-year Treasury rising 4.5 basis points to 1.680 percent. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was up 2.3 basis points to 2.134 percent. The two-year U.S. Treasury yield was up 5.9 basis points at 0.434 percent. The breakeven rate on five-year U.S. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) was last at 2.897 percent.