In Asian Equity Markets Japan’s Nikkei share average edged up on Friday with financial stocks leading the gains after U.S. yields rose, while GMO Internet jumped after an activist fund called on the company to change its governance structure. The Nikkei rose 0.2 percent to 23,808.06. For the week, it gained 0.7 percent. Automakers and financials were mostly higher on Friday. Heavyweight Toyota traded flat and Honda gained 0.8 percent. Among technology names, Nintendo rose 3.75 percent, extending gains following its Thursday release of new Nintendo Switch accessories. On the mainland, the Shanghai composite tacked on 0.36 percent and the Shenzhen composite advanced 0.1 percent. Down Under, the S&P/ASX 200 was traded 0.16 percent on the red.

In Currency Markets the US dollar was trading near a three-year low against a basket of currencies on Friday as fears of a possible U.S. government shutdown added to underlying weakness that stems from the growing trend toward monetary policy normalization around the world. The dollar index stood at 90.378, having fallen to as low as 90.104 this week, a level last seen in December 2014. It has already lost roughly 2 percent so far in 2018. The euro edged up 0.2 percent to $1.2261, near the three year high of $1.2323 struck on Wednesday. Having advanced 0.5 percent so far this week, the common currency could post a fifth consecutive week of gains. The dollar eased 0.2 percent to 110.86 yen, with its rebound from Wednesday’s four-month low of 110.19 already fading despite rise in U.S. debt yields.

In Commodities Markets oil prices fell more than 1 percent on Friday as a bounce-back in U.S. production outweighed ongoing declines in crude inventories. If Friday’s falls last, this week will see the biggest weekly price declines since October. Brent crude futures were at $68.46 down 1.2 percent, from their last close. On Monday, they hit their highest since December, 2014 at $70.37 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $63.02 a barrel down 1.5 percent, from their last settlement. WTI marked a December-2014 peak of $64.89 a barrel on Tuesday. U.S. crude oil production stood at 9.75 million barrels per day (bpd) on Jan. 12, data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed. Output had fallen to 9.49 million barrels at the start of the year, due largely to a cold snap that shut down some production.

In US Equity Markets indexes ended lower on Thursday as losses in industrial stocks and interest-rate sensitive sectors offset marginal gains in tech stocks. Utilities and real estate fell 0.6 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively. The S&P 500 lost 0.16 percent, to 2,798.03 and the Nasdaq Composite was flat, at 7,296.05. Bank of New York Mellon Corp fell 4.4 percent after the custodian bank said it expected to book more in severance costs in 2018. It was the second-biggest decliner on the S&P. Alcoa Corp fell 7.0 percent after the aluminum producer’s earnings missed analysts’ estimates. Morgan Stanley ended up 1 percent higher and wrapped up earnings season for the big U.S. banks with a better-than-expected quarterly profit, driving modest gains in its shares.

In Bond Markets yields on U.S. 10-year notes reached a 10-month high on Thursday after China reported fourth-quarter growth that accelerated for the first time in seven years. After spending the week around 2.60 percent, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield passed that mark to hit its highest level since March 2017. Also on Thursday, the U.S. government sold $13 billion in 10-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) to the strongest demand since 2014 at a yield of 0.548 percent, the highest in two years. The 10-year inflation break even rate (gap between 10-year TIPS and regular 10-year Treasury), was 2.09 percent, its highest level since February 2017. At the close 10-year Treasury yields were 2.626 percent, its highest since March 14. Two-year yields were 2.048 percent, after hitting 2.060 percent earlier in the day, the highest since September 2008.

Today’s inflection points

• 10:00 GMT +1 EUR Current account
• 10:30 GMT +1 GBP Retail sales ex fuels
• 16:00 GMT +1 USD University of Michigan Confidence, preliminary