Today's Edition
LONDON (AFP)
Stocks were subdued and precious metals hit fresh highs on Friday after a turbulent week.
Gold -- a safe haven asset -- pushed towards a record $5,000 an ounce despite "a calmer end to a chaotic week on the markets", said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.
Sentiment has calmed over the past two days after the US president pulled back from his warning to hit several European nations with levies.
European stocks hesitated on Friday, with Paris dipping while Frankfurt and London were flat approaching the half-way stage.
Asian markets closed higher tracking a successive advance on Wall Street.
Trump's latest salvo against allies revived trade war fears and uncertainty about US investment, putting downward pressure on the dollar this week.
The Republican's willingness to threaten tariffs over any issue had rattled confidence on trading floors, weighing on the dollar and boosting safe-haven metals, analysts said.
Investors were also preparing for next week's Federal Reserve meeting following economic data broadly in line with forecasts and after US prosecutors took aim at boss Jerome Powell, raising fears over the bank's independence.
The bank is tipped to hold interest rates, having cut them in the previous three meetings.
The meeting also comes as Trump considers candidates to replace Powell when his term comes to an end in May.
Elsewhere, the Bank of Japan left its key interest rate unchanged Friday ahead of the country's snap election next week which could impact government spending plans.
After sharp volatility in the wake of the announcement, the yen traded slightly higher.
In company news, the share price of Japanese giant Nintendo closed up 4.5% as industry data showed that its Switch 2 console led the US hardware market in unit and dollar sales in 2025.
Next week's US earnings calendar is packed with results from Apple, Microsoft, Boeing, Tesla, Meta and other corporate giants.
