In European Equity Markets stocks closed higher Friday following the conclusion of U.S.-China trade talks and a key speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Basic resources, with their heavy exposure to China, were the best performers. Looking at individual stocks, shares of Irish building materials firm Kingspan rose almost 10 percent, to the top of the European benchmark, after the building materials firm reported a rise in trading profits for its first half and gave a positive outlook for the rest of the year.

In Currency Markets the pound slid against the euro to its weakest since mid-September, hurt by a rally in the single currency and concerns about whether Britain can secure a post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union. Sterling rose, however, against a dollar rattled by a speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. But sterling fell to trade as weak as 90.390 pence per euro on Friday, a fresh 11-month low. The British currency rose as high as $1.2880, up nearly half a percent on the day, before settling around $1.2845.

In Commodities Markets oil prices jump 2 percent on Friday and were on track to end a run of weekly declines on signs that Iran sanctions may limit global supply and that a trade war may not curb China’s appetite for U.S. crude. Brent crude oil  rose $1.29 a barrel to $76.02 after earlier touching a high of $76.42. U.S. crude was $1.20 higher at $69.03. U.S. crude was set to be up more than 4.7 percent on the week, after seven consecutive declines and Brent was on track for a 5.8 percent rise after three weeks of falling prices.

In US Equity Markets the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit all-time highs on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank’s current approach to interest rate hikes were the best way to protect the U.S. economic recovery. The S&P 500 was up 0.52 percent, at 2,871.85 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.81 percent, at 7,942.05. Staples were hit by Philip Morris’s 3.3 percent decline and Altria’s 2 percent fell after brokerage Jefferies flagged concerns that the two tobacco companies could lose market share.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury prices gave back earlier losses on Friday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell made the case for further rate increases, but did not give any new indications on the U.S. central bank’s pace of rate hikes. Benchmark 10-year notes fell 2/32 in price on the day to yield 2.828 percent, after rising to 2.850 percent before Powell’s speech. The notes have held in a range between 2.822 percent and 3.016 percent since the end of May. The yield curve between two-year and 10-year notes flattened to 20 basis points, the flattest since 2007.