All eyes focused on the ECB meeting, amid a series of events taking place in the European Union. The most relevant was the central bank’s monetary policy decision on hiking rates by 50 bps, the first hike in over 11 years, and the awaited move away from negative rates.

- ECB has not wasted any time in hiking by a more aggressive 50 bps and still thinks it should be able to repeat that feat in September

- Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi effectively resigned, and elections will be held in September. Italian President Sergio Mattarella has dissolved the Italian parliament, opening the door for election on September 25.

- The focus on Friday will be on growth-related figures, as S&P Global will publish the preliminary estimates of the July PMIs.

Equities:

- In Wall Street, US stocks managed to post modest gains, which put further pressure on the dollar. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added about 186 points, or 0.58%, ending near 32,021. The S&P 500 index rose 0.99%, while the Nasdaq closed 1.17% higher at 12,547.8 points.

- Tech stocks have been subject to general drop this year, with shares of Amazon down more than 25% and shares of Facebook parent Meta off 45% year-to-date. But even among beaten down tech stocks, Snapchat is a similar example. Shares are off a 65% year-to-date, putting it in the rare company of the likes of Netflix, which is down 63%.

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Currency Market:

- The US dollar advanced after the ECB’s decision. The EUR/USD pair finished the day just below the 1.0200 threshold. GBP/USD settled at around 1.1975.

- Commodity-linked currencies posted modest gains against the dollar, with AUD/USD trading at 0.6910 and USD/CAD at 1.2880.

- Safe-haven JPY and CHF posted substantial gains vs their American rival.

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Commodities: Gold

- Gold bounced off a one-year low after gaining more than 1% as the dollar eased and persistent economic concerns boosted bullion's safe-haven appeal. Spot gold was up 1% at $1,718 per ounce after hitting its lowest since March 2021 at $1,680.25.

- Helping gold's uptick, the euro jumped against the dollar before paring gains. The European Central Bank raised interest rates by more than expected as inflation concerns trumped growth considerations, even as the euro zone economy reels from the Ukraine crisis.

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Commodities: Oil

- Oil prices climbed in Asia trading on Friday, rebounding from previous declines amid supply tightness and geopolitical tensions, even though weakened demand in the United States has cast a shadow on the market this week.

- Brent crude futures rose $1.61, or 1.6%, to $105.47 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained $1.43, or 1.5%, to $97.78 a barrel.

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