In Asian Equity Markets stocks inched higher on Friday but were set for a weekly loss, while the U.S. dollar hovered near two-month highs as investors continued to digest comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve projecting interest rate hikes in 2023. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was barely above water in morning trade after four sessions in the red, edging up 0.01 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index gained 0.53 percent and Seoul’s KOSPI was up 0.16 percent. Chinese blue chips swung between gains and losses, and were last down 0.1 percent. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.31 percent.

In Currency Markets the dollar was headed for its best week in nearly nine months on Friday as investors have scrambled to price in a sooner-than-expected ending to extraordinary U.S. monetary stimulus in the days after a surprise shift in tone from the Federal Reserve. The dollar is also on track for a 0.5 percent rise against the yen, which traded at 110.25 per dollar after hitting an 11-week peak of 110.82 on Thursday. The euro sat just above a two-month low at $1.1904. The Australian dollar parked at $0.7555, also near the two-month trough of $0.7540 that it hit overnight.

In US Equity Markets conviction in the strength of the economic recovery pushed investors into U.S. technology stocks on Thursday, although a post-Fed hangover left a subdued S&P nursing a very minor loss. The Dow fell 0.62 percent, to 33,823.45, the S&P 500 lost 0.04 percent, to 4,221.86 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.87 percent, to 14,161.35. Shares of Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, Amazon.com Inc and Facebook Inc shook off premarket declines to advance between 1.3 percent and 2.2 percent as investors bet that a steady economic rebound would boost demand for their products in the long run.

In Commodities Markets oil prices toppled from their highest levels in years on Thursday, pressured by the dollar’s gains. The stronger dollar makes greenback-traded commodities more expensive to holders of other currencies. Brent retreated 2 percent to last trade at $72.93 a barrel, while U.S. crude fell 1.8 percent to $70.86. Spot gold fell 2 percent to $1,776.10 per ounce. U.S. gold futures settled down 4.7 percent at $1,774.80. Palladium led the sell-off, falling 10 percent to $2,517.18, while platinum fell 6.6 percent to $1,048.44. Silver lost 4.3 percent to $25.81 per ounce.

In European Equity Markets stocks ended a touch lower on Thursday as hawkish signals from the U.S. Federal Reserve raised concerns over early policy tightening, with mining stocks falling the most as commodity prices fell. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.1 percent at 459.33, snapping a nine-day gaining streak, after the Fed said it could begin raising interest rates a year earlier than expected. Losses in major mining stocks saw the FTSE 100 shed 0.4 percent. Bank stocks were among the best performers for the day, adding 0.4 percent as bond yields rose on the Fed.

In Bond Markets euro zone government bond yields rose on Thursday after a Federal Reserve’s more hawkish than expected policy meeting that brought forward the first projected U.S. rates increase. Germany’s 10-year government bond yield, the benchmark of the bloc, rose 2 basis points to -0.18 percent. U.S. two-year yields rose to one-year highs on Thursday, while long-dated Treasury yields fell following sharp yield increases on Wednesday. Italy’s 10-year BTPs yield rose 6 basis points to a one-week high at 0.835 percent.