In Asian Equity Markets stocks fell on Friday as Chinese cities introduced new COVID-19 curbs, while a broader rout in technology stocks spilled over into Asia after a slew of weak earnings from U.S. heavyweights. China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 index fell 1.7 percent, while the Shanghai Composite index shed 1.4 percent as several cities including Guangzhou and Wuhan introduced new measures to battle a rise in COVID cases. The Taiwan Weighted index lost 1.5 percent, while South Korea’s KOSPI fell 0.8 percent. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.45 percent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index lost 0.87 percent.

In Currency Markets the yen wobbled after the Bank of Japan on Friday kept interest rates ultra low and maintained a dovish stance, while the dollar struggled to hold onto overnight gains due to expectations that the Federal Reserve could shift to smaller interest rate rises. The yen fell about 0.4 percent to a session low of 146.90 per dollar after the BOJ’s decision. The euro was last up 0.19 percent at $0.9984. Sterling was up 0.04 percent at $1.1569. The Aussie gained 0.11 percent to $0.6461, while the kiwi was last up 0.52 percent at $0.5860. The U.S. dollar index was down 0.15 percent to 110.39.

In US Equity Markets the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posted losses on Thursday, as investors contended with solid economic data and a mixed bag of corporate earnings. The Dow was up 0.61 percent, to 32,033.28, the S&P 500 lost 0.61 percent, to 3,807.3 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.63 percent, to 10,792.68. McDonald’s Corp gained 3.3 percent after the fast food chain beat quarterly same-store sales estimates. Shares of Southwest Airlines Co rose 2.7 percent after the carrier’s quarterly profit topped consensus estimates.

In Commodities Markets oil rose more than $1 a barrel on Thursday, extending the previous day’s rally of nearly 3 percent, as optimism over record U.S. crude exports and signs that recession fears are abating outweighed concern over slack demand in China. Brent crude settled up 1.3 percent, to $96.96 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled up 1.3 percent, to $89.08 a barrel. Spot gold was down 0.2 percent to $1,661.25 per ounce. Elsewhere, spot silver fell 0.6 percent to $19.51 per ounce, platinum rose 1.3 percent to $963.38 and palladium was down 1.2 percent to $1,940.33.

In European Equity Markets stocks emerged from their session lows and closed nearly flat on Thursday after the ECB raised interest rates by an expected 75 basis points and signalled a slower pace of rate hikes going forward. An index of euro zone stocks ended the day down 0.1 percent. It had shed as much as 1.2 percent before the ECB’s policy decision. Boosting UK’s FTSE 100, Shell rose 5.5 percent after the energy major posted $9.45 billion in profit and announced plans to raise its dividend by year-end. France’s TotalEnergies gained 3.0 percent after posting a jump in third-quarter net profit.

In Bond Markets treasury yields slid further on Thursday after data showed U.S. consumer and business spending slowed in the third quarter, pointing to a possible peak in inflation that could allow the Federal Reserve to ease its aggressive hiking of interest rates. The 10-year yield was last down 5.5 basis points to 3.960 percent, while 30-year bonds fell 6 basis points to 4.104 percent. The two-year U.S. Treasury yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, fell 7.8 basis points at 4.340 percent.