In Asian Equity Markets Japanese stocks led a rebound on Friday, building on the lead from investors on Wall Street snapping up stocks that would benefit most from an economic revival. Stocks in big semiconductor manufacturers led the advance in Asia, where almost all markets opened higher. Tokyo’s Nikkei rose  2.2 percent, while MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.8 percent. Chinese blue chips rose 1.7 percent, while Australia’s benchmark rallied 0.8 percent. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng advanced 1 percent, while the Shanghai Composite gained 1.2 percent.

In Currency Markets the dollar took a breather on Friday but looks set to post weekly gains against a basket of currencies as investors try to assess the risk of U.S. inflation rising faster than expected and prodding the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates sooner. The dollar index paused at 90.752, sitting on a gain of 0.5 percent so far this week. Against the yen, the dollar stood at 109.50 yen, off Thursday’s one-month high of 109.785. The euro was fetching $1.2076, holding above Thursday’s low of $1.20515 while the British pound changed hands at $1.4047.

In US Equity Markets stocks ended sharply higher at the close of a broad rally on Thursday, bouncing back from three straight days of selling on upbeat labor market data. The Dow rose 1.29 percent, to 34,021.45, the S&P 500 gained 1.22 percent, to 4,112.5 and the Nasdaq added 0.72 percent, to 13,124.99. Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, 10 ended green, with industrials enjoying the largest percentage gain. Energy, weighed by a decline in crude prices, was the sole loser, falling 1.4 percent. Walt Disney Co shares were down nearly 5 percent in after-hours trading after posting quarterly results.

In Commodities Markets oil prices remained subdued following a decline on Thursday, pausing a recent rally as investors turned their attention to the coronavirus crisis in India, and as the top U.S. fuel pipeline network resumed operations after being shut due to a cyber attack. Brent crude declined 0.4 percent to $66.79 a barrel, while U.S. WTI crude lost 0.3 percent to $63.62 a barrel. Gold traded at around $1,822 an ounce at the end of the week, largely unchanged from the previous day, when it recovered some of Wednesday’s losses. Silver was flat at $27.03 per ounce.

In European Equity Markets stocks fell on Thursday, weighed down by a fall in heavyweight miners after commodity prices declined, while a rapid rise in U.S. inflation kept risk sentiment at bay. The pan-European STOXX 600 index edged down 0.1 percent, after falling as much as 1.7 percent earlier in the session, drifting further away from an all-time high. Basic resources fell 3.0 percent, leading declines among European sectors, while oil and gas lost 1.4 percent. Automakers also shed 0.9 percent, while defensive names like utilities, healthcare and telecoms rose.

In Bond Markets U.S. Treasury yields were lower on Thursday, with longer-dated yields falling after four straight days of gains even as a reading on inflation came in higher than expected, while weekly initial jobless claims fell more than anticipated. The yield on 10-year Treasury notes was down 3.2 basis points to 1.671 percent after climbing to a high of 1.707 percent. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was down 1 basis points to 2.406 percent. The breakeven rate on five-year U.S. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) was last at 2.685 percent.