By FX Empire.com
Mixed sentiments dominated global markets on Friday, where fears the European debt crisis is spreading persisted. Nonetheless, rising leading indicators in the United States provided investors with hope over the outlook of the world’s largest economy.
The European Central Bank bought bonds in the secondary market to ease mounting concerns over the outlook of Italy and Spain, where yields on Italian and Spanish bonds retreated from a euro-era record.
The U.S. dollar was lower against a basket of major currencies on Friday, where the U.S. dollar index was trading at 78.04, compared with the opening level at 78.21. The Euro rose for a second day against the Dollar, where the EUR/USD pair traded at $1.3521, compared with the opening level at $1.3454, the British Pound also gained for a second day against the Dollar, where the GBP/USD pair traded around $1.5784, compared with the opening level at $1.5748, and the U.S. dollar extended its drop against the Japanese Yen, where the USD/JPY pair was trading around 76.87, compared with the opening level at 76.97.
Stocks in the United States rose by opening on Friday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up by nearly 0.70% to trade around 11,854, while the S&P 500 index was up by nearly 0.60% to trade around 1223. European stock indexes were mixed before closing on Friday, where FTSE 100 was down by nearly 0.90% to trade at 5372 and the DAX was down by nearly 0.40% to close around 5824.
Gold prices rose on Friday to trade now around $1726 an ounce and crude oil prices slightly gained to trade around $99 a barrel.
Originally posted here
