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Currency Markets the dollar fell on Friday but remained on track for a solid weekly gain on growing expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its mid-March meeting, which led to a rise in U.S. Treasury yields. Against the yen, the dollar fell 0.3 percent on the day to 114.11 after scaling a peak of 114.595 in the previous session, its highest since Feb. 15. The euro edged up 0.1 percent to $1.0520, after falling as low as $1.0495 overnight, within a tick of its lowest level since Jan. 11. The Australian dollar licked its wounds, down 0.2 percent on the day at $0.7559. Sterling was steady on the day at $1.2267 after plumbing a low of $1.2243 on Thursday, its nadir since Jan. 17.
Commodities Markets oil markets rose on Friday as the dollar edged away from a multi-week high, but prices are being held in check by unchanged Russian output for February, a sign of its weak compliance on a global deal to cut supplies. Benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.3 percent, to $55.22 a barrel. WTI futures gained 0.3 percent, to $52.75 a barrel after falling on Thursday to its lowest since Feb. 9. Spot gold fell 0.2 percent to $1,232.81 per ounce. Spot silver held firm at $17.78, after falling 3.5 percent to hit a 3-week low of $17.64 on Thursday. Platinum was steady at $986.40, after it fell 3 percent in the previous session to hit one-month lows of $978.75. Palladium rose 0.1 percent to $768.
US Equity Markets stocks retreated on Thursday, led by financial stocks, while Caterpillar shares fell following news that federal officials searched its Illinois facilities. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.53 percent, to end at 21,002.97, the S&P 500 lost 0.59 percent, to 2,381.92 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.73 percent, to 5,861.22. Caterpillar lost 4.3 percent. In a statement issued after the closing bell, Caterpillar said the search may be related to an Internal Revenue Service investigation on profits earned by a Swiss subsidiary. Shares of Snap Inc rose 44 percent on their first day of trading. The stock opened at $24, above the IPO price of $17, and nearly 217 million shares traded on the debut.
Bond Markets Japanese Government Bond prices were steady to slightly firmer on Friday as the Bank of Japan's bond purchase operation underscored limited selling interest from market players. The 10-year JGB yield stood flat at 0.080 percent while the price of the benchmark 10-year JGB futures rose 0.06 point to 150.57. The 20-year yield fell 1.0 basis point to 0.665 percent while the 30-year yield was flat at 0.865 percent. The five-year JGB yield fell to minus 0.150 percent, its lowest level since mid-November.
Asian Equity Markets Japanese stocks edged down on Friday as investors took profits before the weekend, after hitting a 14-month high the previous day on rising expectations for a U.S. interest rate hike this month. The Nikkei fell 0.2 percent to 19,536.39 points in mid-morning trade, after climbing to as high as 19,668.01 on Thursday, the highest intraday level since December 2015. The broader Topix fell 0.2 percent to 1,561.27 and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 fell 0.3 percent to 13,985.70. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan down 0.9 percent in the biggest daily fall so far this year. Australia fell 0.8 percent and Shanghai 0.4 percent.
