MARKET WRAPS
Stocks:
European shares were down as oil eased Friday, though tech stocks gained.
Momentum returned to the trade in artificial-intelligence stocks, with chip makers in Asia gaining and AI supply-chain names rallying in Europe.
Oil prices extended losses from the previous session, with Brent crude now at around $102 a barrel amid efforts to restore Saudi export capacity.
"Supply concerns have eased as Saudi Arabia works to restore its damaged East-West pipeline," MUFG said. "The recent decline in spot oil prices largely reflects a perception of moderating geopolitical risks, but continued threats to both Hormuz and Red Sea routes should keep Brent above pre-war levels and volatility elevated."
Meanwhile, Japan's central bank lifted its benchmark interest rate to 1.25%, its highest level since 1995, and plans further increases.
The global move to higher interest rates leaves "little doubt we're in a globally synchronized cycle of rate hikes again," said Deutsche Bank.
For the day ahead, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde will speak at 1400 GMT.
U.S. Markets:
Stock futures climbed as oil eased, though Treasury yields largely rose as investors braced for more rate hikes to come.
Investors will watch for U.S. industrial production and capacity utilization data for August due today.
Forex:
The euro traded flat and was likely to stabilize against the dollar Friday, ING said.
The dollar traded steady, close to a multiweek high against a basket of currencies, as the Japanese yen fell after a split vote by the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates Friday cast doubt over further policy tightening.
Sterling rose slightly after data showed U.K. retail sales unexpectedly returned to growth in August.
Bonds:
Yields on eurozone government bond yields edged higher but stayed comfortably below recent multiyear highs, helped by falling oil prices and lower Treasury yields.
Societe Generale rates strategists raise their forecasts for 10-year Bund yields, as the rise in long-end yields is not over, it said.
Treasury yields mostly rose, with 10-year yields ticking up to 4.948% and heading toward the 5% level hit earlier this week, while two-year yields added 2.2 basis points to trade at 4.705%. Yields on 30-year Treasurys were little moved at 5.285%.
Energy:
In early European trading, Brent fell 2.2% and was on track for a weekly loss of nearly 2%, while WTI futures were down 1.9%.
Metals:
Gold prices rose above the $4,400-an-ounce mark, supported by lower Treasury yields and easing oil prices.
Iron ore
Iron ore prices are higher in early Asian trade, finding near-term support from a seasonal pickup in steel demand and pre-holiday restocking, said Baocheng Futures.
EMEA HEADLINES
Nestle Weighs Options for Russia Unit After Moscow Seizes Control
Nestle said it is assessing options for its Russian unit after Moscow transferred control to external administrators, in the latest move by the Kremlin to seize the local assets of international conglomerates.
Russia placed Nestle Russia, as well as the businesses in the country of French retailers Auchan and Leroy Merlin, under temporary external administration, according to a presidential decree published Thursday.
Sandoz Gets Canada Approval for Generic Version of Ozempic
Sandoz Group said it received approval from Canada's drug regulator for its generic version of Novo Nordisk's blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic, advancing its efforts to build a portfolio of so-called GLP-1 medicines.
The Swiss maker of generic drugs said Friday that Health Canada granted it authorization to sell a generic version of semaglutide-the key ingredient in Ozempic and Novo Nordisk's sister weight-loss medicine Wegovy-for the treatment of adult patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
U.K. Retail Sales Climbed Despite Inflation Pickup
Retail sales in the U.K. rebounded in August, helped by online sales and shrugging off a pickup in inflation.
Sales volumes were up 0.5% on month, flipping the 0.5% fall in July. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected a 0.1% decline.
Christine Lagarde Helped Block Binance's Foothold in Europe
Binance was preparing a big announcement in late May that would unlock the European market for the world's largest crypto exchange.
Its application for a Europe-wide license, made through the Greek financial regulator, was complete, Greek officials had told Binance. A company press release, headlining a "Major Milestone," was ready to go. Binance CEO Richard Teng was planning to fly to Athens for a photo shoot with the prime minister, and his local deputy was about to sign an office lease.
GLOBAL NEWS
Bank of Japan Raises Rates, Making U.S. Less Alluring for Tokyo Investors
TOKYO-The Bank of Japan lifted its benchmark interest rate to its highest level in 30 years and signaled more increases are on the way, a policy shift with the potential for big ripples far beyond Japan's shores.
Japanese investors own around $2.5 trillion of U.S. stocks, bonds and other financial assets, accounting for about half of Japan's enormous $5 trillion stock of overseas portfolio holdings.
Weeks Before the Midterms, Almost Everything Is Getting More Expensive
Mortgage rates close to 7%. Gas prices near their highest levels since 2022. A Federal Reserve interest-rate hike for the first time in three years.
Everything from buying a house to filling up your gas tank now costs more than even a week ago-putting affordability back in the spotlight just before midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.
The Markets See Rates Going Higher Than the Fed Does. Is Stagflation Ahead?
Interest-rate markets see the Federal Reserve raising its policy interest rate more than the monetary authorities in order to bring inflation to heel-even if it risks pushing the economy into a recession.
To the surprise of absolutely nobody, the Federal Open Market Committee this past week increased its target range for federal funds by 25 basis points, to 3.75%-4%, by a unanimous vote. (A basis point is a hundredth of a percentage point.) At the same time, the policy-setting panel unveiled a new Summary of Economic Projections that showed a median expectation of another 25-basis-point hike by December, to a range of 4%-4.25%.
Malaysia's Former Prime Minister Can Serve Rest of 1MDB Sentence Under House Arrest
SINGAPORE-Malaysia's former Prime Minister Najib Razak can serve the remaining two years of his sentence for abuse of power in the looting of the 1MDB sovereign-wealth fund under house arrest, the government said Friday.
The pardon is conditional on Najib paying a fine of 50 million ringgit, equivalent to around $12 million, and relates to the former leader's 2020 graft conviction-a watershed moment in one of the largest financial crimes of the century that touched jurisdictions from Switzerland to Curaçao, as well as the U.S.
North Korea Sends Women to Russian Factories in Line of Ukrainian Fire
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un found a new way in recent years to deepen his alliance with Russia, sending North Korean workers by the thousands to aid an economy suffering from President Vladimir Putin's protracted war with Ukraine.
This summer it became evident that those workers, including many women who have been deployed to Russian factories and warehouses, are no longer at a safe distance from the battle.
Red and Blue America Have Found Something to Agree On: Flock Cameras Must Go
In the liberal Blue Ridge Mountains city of Asheville, N.C., progressives fear the Trump administration could use Flock Safety cameras to spy on political dissidents, transgender residents and undocumented immigrants.
In the foothills 95 miles south, Republicans in conservative Oconee County, S.C., view the same AI-enabled license-plate readers as a threat to constitutional privacy rights and have even read aloud from the Federalist Papers at tense public meetings.
Republican Lawmaker Breaks With Trump on Immigration
Republican Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, who represents a red-leaning South Florida district, rolled out a straight-to-camera ad on Thursday breaking with President Trump on his immigration enforcement tactics, a stark warning for her party as it heads to the midterms.
The 30-second ad, airing in English and Spanish, is one of the most direct examples of a Republican candidate criticizing the president. It comes as support has frayed for the GOP among Hispanic voters with less than two months until the November election.
Write to priscila.barrera@wsj.com