EQUITIES
Shares in Asia-Pacific rose in Friday morning trade following overnight gains on Wall Street.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan climbed more than 1.42% to lead gains regionally. South Korea’s KOSPI gained 0.87%, the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia climbed 0.57%, Singapore’s Straits Times index rose 0.37%, and the S&P BSE Sensex in India added 0.94%.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index surged 0.90%, returned to trade on Friday after stock markets in the city were closed for two days. Mainland Chinese stocks also advanced, with the Shanghai composite up around 0.30%.
Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 surged 1.71% to 4,428.26 — its biggest jump since March — as investors cheered better-than-expected earnings reports and data on the labour market and inflation. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.56%, to 34,912.56 while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.73% to 14,823.43. The Nasdaq notched its biggest since May 20 and the Dow its biggest since July 20.
European stocks also are expected to open broadly in positive territory as markets digest U.S. inflation data and earnings.
OIL
Oil prices climbed on Friday, heading for gains of more than 2% for the week, on increasing signs of tight supply over the next few months as rocketing gas and coal prices stoke a switch to oil products.
The International Energy Agency said surging natural gas prices could boost demand for oil among power generators. A global energy crunch is expected to boost oil demand by 500,000 bpd and could stoke inflation and slow the world's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the IEA said on Thursday.
Prices also supported after top oil producer Saudi Arabia dismissed calls for additional OPEC+ supply, saying the group's unwinding of production cuts was protecting the oil market from wild price swings seen in natural gas and coal markets.
The Brent now traded at $84.50 per barrel, heading for a 2.3% rise for the week. The U.S. crude futures traded at $81.85 per barrel, heading for a 3% gain on the week.
Overnight, the Brent ends at $84.00 a barrel, and the WTI settled at $81.31 per barrel.
CURRENCIES
The dollar and benchmark Treasury yields both paused their recent ascent to pull back from multi-month highs.
The dollar headed for its first weekly decline versus major peers since the start of last month, falling back from a one-year high as traders turned their attention to when the U.S. Fed will start raising interest rates. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six rivals, was marginally lower on the day, at 93.941, and on track for about a 0.1% decline this week despite hitting the highest since Sept. 25 of last year at 94.563 on Tuesday.
The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes was 1.528%, little changed on the day, after trending downwards this week from Tuesday's four-month high of 1.631%. The two-year Treasury yield retreated to 0.3501%, from 0.368% the previous day.
GOLD
Gold was largely flat on Friday, after enjoying its best session in seven months on Wednesday.
Spot gold was little moved, traded at $1,794.60 an ounce, while U.S. gold futures shed 0.10% to $1,796.10 an ounce.
Spot silver rose 0.35% to $23.56 per ounce, platinum added 0.85% to $1,061.20, and palladium slipped 0.88% to $2,132.00 per ounce.
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
Asian shares advanced on Friday, following overnight gains on Wall Street, though regional concerns about the Chinese economy capped gains.
Oil prices soars yet again, keeping inflation pressures alive, though data on the U.S. labour market and inflation soothed fears over the outlook for higher rates.
In the U.S., data that showed PPI increased 0.5% in September, after advancing 0.7% in August. In another report on Thursday, the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits dropped below 300,000 last week for the first time in 19 months.
The next major test of the U.S. economy's health comes later on Friday with the release of retail sales figures.
Wells Fargo & Co, Citigroup Inc and Bank of America Corp all reported profits that beat market expectations. Goldman Sachs is due to report on Friday.
