In Asian Equity Markets indices were trading higher on Friday morning on comments from U.S. President Donald Trump indicating potential progress in his trade negotiations with China. The Shanghai composite gained 0.89 percent while the Shenzhen composite advanced 1.591 percent. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 2.14 percent in the morning, with heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix seeing gains of 2.02 and 3.07 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.02 percent while the Topix index gained 0.39 percent.

In Currency Markets the US dollar fell against its peers on Friday, pulling away from a 16-month peak hit earlier this week as returning confidence in financial markets reduced the appeal for safe haven assets and as investors awaited the closely-watched U.S. jobs report. Sterling was flat at $1.3000 after jumping 1.8 percent on Thursday, its biggest one-day gain since April 2017. The euro was little changed at $1.1402 after gaining 0.9 percent overnight on the dollar’s broad retreat. The dollar was up 0.1 percent at 112.795 yen after declining 0.25 percent on Thursday.

In Commodities Markets oil prices fell on Friday as record crude output by the world’s three largest producers outweighed supply concerns from the start of U.S. sanctions next week against Iran’s petroleum exports. Front-month Brent crude futures were at $72.50 per barrel on Friday, down 39 cents, or 0.5 percent, from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 37 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $63.32 a barrel. Brent has fallen by over 12 percent since the beginning of October, while WTI has lost more than 13 percent in value.

In US Equity Markets stocks rose for a third straight session on Thursday as President Donald Trump said trade talks with China were “moving along nicely,” reviving hopes that the two countries can resolve their trade dispute. the S&P 500 gained 1.06 percent, to 2,740.37 and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.75 percent, to 7,434.06. The S&P materials index was up 3.0 percent, with DowDuPont Inc jumping 8.1 percent after it reported strong results and plans for a $3 billion share buyback. The trade-sensitive S&P industrial sector rose 1.7 percent.

In Bond Markets a slowdown in U.S. manufacturing, construction and productivity left yields lower ahead of Friday’s monthly jobs report which will inform the Federal Reserve’s decision on whether to raise interest rates in December. Yields across maturities fell on Thursday after the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its index of national factory activity fell to a six-month low of 57.7 points last month from 59.8 in September. Yields across maturities were down around 2 basis points, with the yield on the 10-year benchmark note last down 1.9 basis points at 3.138 percent.