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US:

U.S. stocks edged higher Thursday as investors weighed the future path of interest rates following the Federal Reserve’s quarter-point raise.

Asia: Asia-Pacific markets largely fell on Friday, as investors weigh remarks from U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who said federal emergency actions to back up failed regional banks could be used again if necessary

India

Indian shares swung between gains and losses on Thursday but ended in the red after the US Fed reiterated its fight against inflation with a quarter-point rate hike. Market is expected to open on a flattish note and likely to witness sideways move during the day.

Global Economy:

The U.S. current account deficit narrowed in the fourth quarter amid an improvement in secondary income receipts as well as an increase in the services surplus. The current account deficit contracted 5.6% to $206.8 billion last quarter. The current account gap represented 3.2% of gross domestic product, the smallest share since the second quarter of 2020 and down from 3.4% in the third quarter. The deficit peaked at 6.3% of GDP in the fourth quarter of 2005. Japan's consumer prices rose 3.1% in February from a year earlier, government data showed Friday, slowing from the fourdecade highs seen in previous months. It is the first deceleration in over a year and marks a drop from January, when consumer prices jumped 4.2% on-year -- the highest level since September 1981, fuelled in part by higher energy bills.

Commodities:

Gold prices stuck to near key levels on Friday, outpacing the dollar for a third straight week as signs of a less hawkish Fed and turmoil in the banking sector saw traders turn to the yellow metal as their preferred safe haven. Oil prices fell on Friday, extending the previous day's losses, on worries about potential oversupply after U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said refilling the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) may take several years.

Currency:

The dollar was steady on Friday near seven-week lows as nervousness over the banking system kept investors skittish and traders absorbed the Federal Reserve's hints of a pause to interest rate hikes.

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