A trio of Federal Reserve policymakers indicated on Thursday that they were more confident that inflation is cooling enough to cut rates, and this – along with a bigger-than-expected fall in U.S. jobless claims data – helped to underpin the recovery.
“The abnormally large reaction to jobless claims figures yesterday was a testament to markets’ extremely elevated sensitivity to all sorts of indications on the US macro outlook right now,” said analysts at ING, in a now.
Oil prices ticked up on Friday and were on course for a weekly gain of more than 3% as positive economic data and signals from Fed policymakers that they could cut interest rates as early as September eased demand concerns, while fears of a widening Middle East conflict continue to raise supply risks.
Bitcoin price jumped higher on Friday, tracking a surge in broader risk-driven markets as positive U.S. labor market helped soothe some concerns that a recession was imminent, with altcoin prices also rallying.
Europe’s main index rose on Friday, with a continued boost from healthcare stocks, logging gains for a fourth consecutive session and eking out a gain for a turbulent week that began with a rout for global stocks on fears of a U.S. recession.
