In Asian Equity Markets stocks steadied in early trading on Friday after losses earlier in the week, but China jitters and global growth concerns weighed on investors’ minds, while the dollar sat near a three-week high. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan recovered from early losses to trade flat but was still down 2.7 percent on the week. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.5 percent. Australian shares fell 1.03 percent, as a fall in iron ore prices hurt miners. However, Chinese blue chips eked out a 0.26 percent rise and Japan’s Nikkei edged up 0.42 percent.

In Currency Markets the dollar held near three-week highs against a basket of major currencies on Friday after a raft of strong U.S. economic data rekindled expectations of an earlier policy tightening by the U.S. Federal Reserve. The dollar index stood at 92.865, near Thursday’s three-week high of 92.965. The euro hit a three-week low of $1.17505 overnight and last traded at $1.1769. The common currency also hit a three-week low of 128.61 yen and one-month low of 0.8501 British pound, before recovering some losses. The dollar bounced back to 109.84 yen, having gained 0.34 percent on Thursday.

In US Equity Markets the S&P 500 ended slightly down on Thursday, paring losses in late trading after unexpectedly strong retail sales data underscored the strength of the U.S. economic recovery. The Dow fell 0.18 percent, to 34,751.32; the S&P 500 lost 0.16 percent, at 4,473.75; and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.13 percent, at 15,181.92. The consumer discretionary spending sector posted the biggest gain, with Amazon.com doing the heavy lifting. Ford Motor Co rose 1.4 percent after it announced plans to boost production of its F-150 electric pickup model.

In Commodities Markets gold slid nearly 3 percent on Thursday and silver lost over 5 percent as strong U.S. retail sales data boosted the dollar and gave ammunition to bets that the Federal Reserve may hasten its tapering. Spot gold slid 2.1 percent to $1,755.75 per ounce, while silver was last down 4.3 percent at $22.79. Platinum fell 1.7 percent to $930.52 per ounce, while palladium was the sole gainer, rising 1.5 percent to $2,032.50. U.S. crude recently fell 1.2 percent to $71.74 per barrel and Brent was at $74.69, down 1.02 percent on the day.

In European Equity Markets stocks rose on Thursday as travel stocks snapped a four-day losing streak after Ryanair lifted its long-term traffic forecast, offsetting concerns about China’s slowing economy that dragged down miners. The pan-European STOXX 600 index climbed 0.4 percent, bouncing off a six-week closing low hit in the previous session. Travel & leisure stocks rose 3.4 percent. Europe’s largest low-cost carrier Ryanair rose 7.9 percent after it raised its long-term traffic forecast. Rivals easyJet, British Airways-owner IAG and Wizz Air gained between 3.9 percent and 7 percent.

In Bond Markets U.S. government bond yields rose on Thursday after a surprisingly strong reading in retail sales lifted some concerns about growth in the world’s largest economy. The yield on 10-year Treasury notes was up 2.9 basis points at 1.333 percent. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was up 1.2 basis points at 1.881 percent. The two-year U.S. Treasury yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, was up 0.4 basis points at 0.217 percent.