In European Equity Markets shares rose on Friday, led by NEX Group as it jumped after a takeover offer, but stocks ended the week with a slight loss as worries about a trade war and geopolitical tensions kept investors on edge. The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed up 0.24 percent at 377.79 points and lost 0.1 percent on the week. Germany’s DAX index rose 0.4 percent following a delayed open which was the first day of trading for Siemens Healthineers, which gained just over 8 percent. Telecoms group Altice rose 3.4 percent following its results, with the debt-ridden group saying it sees signs of a recovery in the competitive French market.

In Currency Markets the U.S. dollar fell to a more than one-week low against the yen on Friday, undermined by speculation that more top Trump administration officials could be replaced and concerns U.S. trade tariffs could hurt the global economy. The dollar was trading 0.3 percent lower at 106.04 yen after falling as low as 105.61 yen, the lowest level since March 7. The euro fell 0.2 percent to $1.2282, with little in the way to drive the single currency. The dollar index was little changed to slightly higher at 90.205. It has been on the defensive for much of the week amid the shake-up inside Trump’s administration and as next week’s Federal Reserve policy meeting comes into focus.

In Commodities Markets oil prices rose on Friday, on track for a weekly gain as market participants followed the U.S. stock market higher and looked to cover short bets ahead of a weekend in which the “60 Minutes” news program will air an interview with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince. Brent crude futures rose 76 cents to $65.88 a barrel, a 1.2 percent gain. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for April, which will expire on Tuesday, rose 94 cents to $62.13 a barrel, a 1.5 percent gain. On Thursday the International Energy Agency (IEA) said global oil demand is expected to pick up this year but supply is growing at a faster pace, leading to a rise in inventories in the first quarter of 2018.

In US Equity Markets stocks ticked higher on Friday as financial stocks tracked gains in yields following data that showed strong U.S. factory output and improving consumer sentiment. Shares of JPMorgan and Bank of America rose nearly 1 percent, helping the S&P financial index up 0.74 percent. The S&P 500 rose 0.45 percent and was on course to break its longest losing streak in 2018. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.36 percent. Micron Technology rose 2 percent after Baird analysts raised price target on the stock by $40 to $100 and Western Digital gained 3.2 percent after an upgrade to “outperform”.

In Bond Markets Southern Europe led a fall in euro zone bond yields on Friday after another European Central Bank policymaker warned that inflation in the bloc remained sluggish, a potential hurdle to the withdrawal of monetary stimulus. The Italian 10-year government bond yield hit a five-week low of 1.94 percent, while Portugal’s 10-year low fell as low as 1.73 percent and was set for its biggest weekly fall since November. Peripheral government bonds are among the biggest beneficiaries of the ECB’s largesse and any sense that the bank may prove more cautious than expected in ending quantitative easing or raising rates tends to benefit these markets.