In Asian Equity Markets stocks were in a cautious mood on Friday after U.S. Federal Reserve officials fired more warning shots on interest rates, while rising coronavirus cases in China and liquidity strains in its bond market added to uncertainty. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan bounced 0.5 percent. Chinese blue chips were flat amid reports that Beijing had asked banks to check liquidity in the bond market after rising yields caused losses for some investors. Japan’s Nikkei nudged up 0.1 percent as data showed inflation running at a 40-year high as a weak yen stoked import costs.

In Currency Markets the dollar was headed for its best week in a month on Friday, as hawkish remarks from Fed officials and stronger-than-expected retail sales data put the brakes on a pullback that was triggered by signs of softening inflation. It was helped overnight, too, by a 0.4 percent fall in sterling after Britain’s budget for tax rises and spending cuts disappointed investors. The dollar rose 0.9 percent on the Australian dollar overnight to $0.6690 per Aussie, and is on course for its first weekly gain on the Aussie since mid-October. The U.S. dollar index is up about 0.16 percent so far this week to 106.59.

In US Equity Markets main indexes ended modestly lower on Thursday in a choppy session as hawkish comments from a U.S. Federal Reserve official and data showing the labor market remained tight led some investors to worry about more aggressive interest rate hikes. The Dow fell 0.02 percent, to 33,546.32, the S&P 500 lost 0.31 percent, to 3,946.56 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.35 percent, to 11,144.96. Cisco Systems shares rose 5 percent after the company raised its full-year revenue and profit forecast with supply chain hurdles easing.

In Commodities Markets oil prices fell more than 3 percent on Thursday, with demand squeezed by mounting COVID-19 cases in China and fears of more aggressive hikes in U.S. interest rates. Brent crude fell $3.08 to settle at $89.78 a barrel, down 3.3 percent. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude slid 4.6 percent, to settle at $81.64 per barrel. Spot gold fell 0.8 percent to $1,760.43 per ounce, after falling to $1,753.6 earlier in the session. Spot silver fell 2.5 percent to $20.93 per ounce, platinum also fell 2.5 percent to $980.61 while palladium lost 3.2 percent to $2,006.07.

In European Equity Markets stocks closed lower on Thursday as declines in miners and healthcare stocks offset gains in shares of engineering and technology group Siemens that helped Germany’s DAX outperform regional peers. The continent-wide STOXX 600 fell 0.4 percent. Germany’s DAX index ended 0.2 percent higher driven by a 7 percent jump in shares of Siemens after it posted upbeat fourth quarter results and gave a confident outlook about future industrial demand. NN Group lost 4.1 percent after the Dutch insurer’s 2025 targets came in below estimates. The AEX fell 0.1 percent.

In Bond Markets benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields rose from six-week lows on Thursday as investors evaluated how high the Federal Reserve will raise rates as inflation moderates and growth appears to remain strong. Benchmark 10-year yields were last at 3.777 percent, after falling to 3.671 percent on Wednesday, the lowest since Oct. 5. Two-year Treasury yields rose to 4.454 percent and are holding above a two-week low of 4.290 percent reached last Thursday after the CPI data.