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Market Review

US: stocks vacillated on Thursday, swinging from red to green and back as investors contended with the push-pull of a strong economy and restrictive Federal Reserve policy.

Asia: Asian shares and bond yields sank on Friday while safehaven currencies, gold and crude oil jumped after reports of a sharp escalation in Middle East hostilities.

India: India's benchmark stock indices erased intraday gains to extend their losing streak to the fourth session on Thursday as banks dragged. Market is expected to open gap down and likely to witness selling pressure during the day.

Global Economy: Japan's core inflation slowed in March and an index gauging broader price trends fell below 3% for the first time in over a year, data showed on Friday, as analysts say yen weakness could complicate the central bank's policy deliberations. The nationwide core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes fresh food items but includes energy items, rose 2.6% in March from a year earlier, matching median market forecasts. It decelerated from a 2.8% rise in February due to a slowdown in food price increases but stayed comfortably above the central bank's 2% target. While consumer inflation is expected to slow, the BOJ's focus is on whether service prices accompanied by higher wage growth will pick up from here. Federal Reserve policymakers have coalesced around the idea of keeping borrowing costs where they are until perhaps well into the year, given slow and bumpy progress on inflation, and a stillstrong U.S. economy. On Thursday New York Fed President John Williams became the latest U.S. rate-setter to embrace the "no rush" on rate cuts view articulated in February by Fed Governor Christopher Waller and since echoed by many of his colleagues. Strong growth in jobs, a third-month-in-a-row upside surprise on inflation in March, and robust retail spending among other recent economic indicators have convinced more central bankers that rate cuts ought to wait.

Commodities Gold prices rose on Friday, on track for their fifth weekly gain, with investors gravitating towards safe-haven assets as political uncertainty in the Middle East overshadowed pressures from the prospect of higher-for-longer U.S. interest rates. Oil prices jumped on Friday in reaction to unconfirmed reports that explosions had occurred in Iran, sparking concerns that Middle East oil supply could be disrupted.

Currency The resurgent dollar headed towards a second straight week of gains on Friday as a hotter-than-expected U.S. economy has pushed back investors' and policymakers' expectations of the trajectory of Federal Reserve rate cuts this year.

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