In European Equity Markets shares rose to highs not seen since 2008 as growing confidence in corporate earnings and in the strength of the global economy continued to fuel a bull market, which shrugged off fears of a possible U.S. government shutdown. The euro zone’s STOXX benchmark index closed up 0.73 percent at 402.95 points, its highest level in 10 years and the pan-regional STOXX 600 benchmark rose 0.5 percent to 400.71 points, a 2-1/2 year peak. Stocks were higher across all sectors at the exception of energy, down 0.77 percent, tracking a fall in crude prices. At the opposite, the European Personnal and Households goods index jumped 1.5 percent with Adidas up 6.9 percent and France’s SEB on a 4 percent rise. Among British mid-caps, a profit warning sent crematorium operator Dignity down about 50 percent.

In Currency Markets the US dollar held near a three-year low versus a basket of currencies on Friday, poised for a fifth week of falls and its longest losing streak since May 2015 as worries over a possible U.S. government shutdown weighed. The greenback held above Wednesday’s lows against a group of major currencies on a trade-weighted basis. The euro was flat at $1.2228, near a three-year high of $1.2323 touched on Wednesday. The dollar was down 0.42 percent at 110.62 yen, with its rebound from Wednesday’s four-month low of 110.19 yen. A slim reduction in the Bank of Japan’s bond purchases this month started speculation about a possible pullback in its policy, even though many market players think any move will be many months away.

In Commodities Markets oil prices slid on Friday, putting them on course for the biggest weekly falls since October, as a bounce-back in U.S. production outweighed ongoing declines in crude inventories. Brent crude futures were at $68.54 a barrel, down 77 cents from their last close. On Monday, they hit their highest since December 2014 at $70.37. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $63.26 a barrel, down 69 cents from their last settlement. WTI marked a December-2014 peak of $64.89 a barrel on Tuesday. Gold prices rose half a percent on Friday as the dollar on heightened fears of a U.S. government shutdown, but the precious metal was still on track for its first weekly decline in six. Platinum climbed 1.1 percent to $1,010.90, having hit its highest since last September at $1,014.50, as it headed for its sixth weekly gain.

In US Equity Markets the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were prodded higher by gains in consumer stocks, while investors played down fears of a looming U.S. government shutdown. Philip Morris, Nike and Home Depot were the main drivers of the S&P, following positive brokerage recommendations on their stocks. Amazon’s 1 percent rise after its move to hike monthly fees for Amazon Prime service helped the Nasdaq. the S&P 500 was 0.10 percent, at 2,800.44 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.15 percent, at 7,304.64. Seven of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, led by a 0.74 percent gain in the consumer staples index and a 0.4 percent rise in discretionary stocks. IBM fell 3.75 percent despite posting its first revenue rise in 23 quarters. The company warned that a higher tax rate this year would eat into its profit.

In Bond Markets Spanish government bonds outperformed the market on Friday on expectations of an upgrade to its debt rating to “A” for the first time since the euro zone debt crisis. Fitch Ratings is due to review Spain’s sovereign credit rating later on Friday, and analysts expect a strengthening economy and declining political risk will lead it to upgrade the rating from “BBB+” to “A”. On Friday, when most euro zone bond yields were pushed higher. Spain’s 10-year borrowing costs edged lower to 1.48 percent. That narrowed the gap between Spanish and German 10-year yields to 95 basis points, its tightest since August last year. Germany’s 10-year government bond yield, the benchmark for the euro zone, rose 2 basis points to 0.53 percent.