- Chinese shares increased amid indications that authorities are working more to mitigate the effects of their covid-zero policy, helping global equities reverse a weekly loss. Before the release of the US payroll figures, Treasury prices barely changed.
- Chinese companies listed in the United States surged in premarket trading as US futures rose, following the largest weekly increase in the benchmark Hang Seng Index of Hong Kong since 2011. As commodities surged, miners led advances in Europe, and luxury companies also saw gains.
- News that US audit officials were performing on-site inspections of Chinese enterprises ahead of schedule and that a system that penalized airlines for bringing virus cases into the nation may be abandoned, encouraged investors.
- Later on Friday, attention will shift to US payroll data to gain insight into the health of the labor market and the rate at which the Federal Reserve is tightening. Thursday marked the dramatic inversion of the treasury curve, a phenomenon that traditionally precedes economic downturns, and had not been witnessed since the 1980s.
- In the meantime, Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, suggested that raising interest rates to constrain levels may be necessary to bring inflation back to the 2% target. By hiking interest rates too quickly, the bank of England is attempting to achieve a compromise between returning inflation to target and averting an overly severe recession.
