In Asian Equity Markets stocks fell on Friday after Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi said it would delist in New York, renewing concern about U.S.-China tensions and tech regulation, while oil headed for a sixth consecutive weekly decrease on Omicron and rate hike worries. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.3 percent, dragged by big tech names. MSCI’s index of Asia shares outside Japan fell 0.7 percent. The CSI300 index rose 0.4 percent to 4,872.97 by the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.6 percent to 3,594.64. The Nikkei index rose 1 percent to close at 28,029.57.

In Currency Markets the dollar leapt against its more risk-sensitive Australian and New Zealand counterparts on Friday, ahead of key U.S. jobs data that could clear the path to earlier Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, even as Omicron uncertainties cloud the outlook. The dollar was flat at 113.21 yen. The euro was little changed at $1.12975, consolidating after its decrease to an almost 17-month low at $1.1186 last week. The Aussie fell 0.26 percent to $0.7076, a fourth losing session, and earlier touched a 13-month low of $0.70625. New Zealand’s kiwi dollar fell 0.33 percent to $0.6795.

In US Equity Markets a broad rally sent stocks to a sharply higher close on Thursday, recovering ground lost over recent sessions as market participants snapped up bargains while digesting the implications of a shifting pandemic. The Dow rose 1.82 percent, to 34,639.79, the S&P 500 gained 1.42 percent, to 4,577.1 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.83 percent, to 15,381.32. Boeing shares had their best day since Feb. 24, jumping 7.5 percent after China’s aviation authority gave its seal of approval the planemaker’s 737 MAX aircraft.

In Commodities Markets oil prices settled more than 1 percent higher on Thursday, after a see-saw session that saw benchmarks swing in a $5 range after OPEC+ surprised markets by sticking to its plans to boost output slowly. Brent crude futures settled up 1.2 percent, at $69.67 a barrel after touching a low of $65.72 on the day, while U.S. WTI crude futures rose 1.4 percent, to $66.50, after falling as low as $62.43. Spot gold was down 1.1 percent at $1,764.00 per ounce. Spot silver steadied at $22.31 per ounce, platinum gained 0.3 percent to $936.00 and palladium added 1.8 percent to $1,778.68.

In European Equity Markets stocks fell more than 1 percent on Thursday, as countries ramped up restrictions to curb the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant, raising worries about hits to a nascent economic recovery. The continent-wide STOXX 600 closed down 1.2 percent, giving back more than half of the previous day’s gains when a recovery in the pandemic-exposed sectors triggered the STOXX 600’s best session in almost six months. Luxury goods firms Hermes and Richemont fell 3.1 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively, despite their inclusion in the blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields headed higher on Thursday as investors returned to riskier assets and Federal Reserve officials talked up a quicker end to the central bank’s bond purchases. The benchmark 10-year yield, which had fallen to as low as 1.409 percent earlier in the session, was last 2 basis points higher at 1.4545 percent. Yields move inversely to prices. The 30-year yield was last less than a basis point lower at 1.7711 percent. The two-year yield rose to a one-week high of 0.63 percent. It was last up 5.6 basis points at 0.6186 percent.