Oil headed for a second week of declines after data on Thursday showing the U.S. economy slowing more than expected in the first quarter.
The flash preliminary euro zone GDP growth figure for the first quarter is due at 0900 GMT, ahead of next week’s European Central Bank meeting. Patrick Spencer, vice chair of equities at RW Baird, said the Fed is likely to raise interest rates by 25 basis points, though it could be postponed for a month due to concerns about regional banks.
S&P 500 stock index futures were down 0.3% after Amazon signalled its cloud growth would slow further as its business customers braced for turbulence and clamped down on spending.The Bank of Japan kept its loose monetary settings unchanged but revamped its guidance on the future path of policy, and announced a “broad-perspective” review with a planned time frame of around one to one-and-a-half years.
“There’s still a major consensus call that shorting the dollar to buy the yen will be the big move of the year, but we’re looking for the catalyst, which would be a signal from the BoJ it is ready to tighten policy,” said Simon Harvey, head of FX analysis at Monex Europe.China shares gained 0.70%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was 0.3% higher. Geopolitical tensions along with worries over the global economic outlook have crimped investor sentiment in recent weeks.
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