Australia

Australian shares are set to edge higher after Wall Street rose again on Friday. US stocks posted their biggest gains in more than two years following soft inflation data on Thursday.

ASX futures were up 42 points or 0.6% at 7204 as of 8:00am on Saturday, pointing to a green open.

This caps off a wild week for US stocks, in which investors watched midterm elections and the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, which filed for bankruptcy Friday after fellow exchange Binance walked away from a rescue deal Wednesday.

The Dow inched 0.1% higher to 33747, the S&P 500 rose 0.9% to 3992 and the Nasdaq jumped 1.9% to 11323 as big tech companies rallied. This left the Dow up 4.2% for the week, the S&P 5.9% and the Nasdaq 8.1%--the tech heavy index's best week since mid-March.

In commodity markets, Brent crude oil jumped 2.6% to $US96.11 a barrel, gold edged up 0.69% to US$1,767.54.

In local bond markets, the yield on Australian 2 Year government bonds dropped to 3.07% while the 10 Year fell to 3.65%. Overseas, the yield on 2 Year US Treasury notes rose to 4.33% and the yield on the 10 Year US Treasury notes was down at 3.81%.

The Australian dollar hit 67.08 US cents up from the previous close of 66.16. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which tracks the US dollar against 16 other currencies edged down to 99.12.

Asia

Chinese shares rallied after Beijing announced it would ease Covid restrictions and shorten the quarantine for inbound travel. The news "indicates the government intends to move toward reopening the economy, though the exact schedule is not clear at this stage," said Zhang Zhiwei, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management. Consumption companies' shares and property stocks were lifted, China Tourism Group Duty Free climbing 3.7%. Developers including Gemdale, China Vanke and Poly Developments & Holdings all rose by their 10% daily limit on expectations that Beijing will help ease developers' financial pressure. The Shanghai Composite Index ended 1.7% higher, putting its weekly gain at 0.5%. The Shenzhen Composite Index increased 1.3% and the ChiNext Price Index was 2.0% higher.

Hong Kong stocks ended sharply higher as the market rallied after Beijing further eased border restrictions. The Hang Seng Index rose 7.7% to 17325.66, its best one-day percentage gain since March and highest closing level in more than a month. Nearly all index constituents rose, with Chinese property developers leading gains amid optimism about the latest government refinancing support for the sector. Country Garden soared 35% and Longfor advanced 29%. Internet giants also surged, with JD.com adding 16% and Meituan rising 12%.

The Nikkei Stock Average closed 3.0% higher at 28263.57, amid expectations of a slower tightening by the Fed following weaker U.S. inflation data. Precision instrument makers were among the best performers, with Shimadzu advancing 3.8%, Hoya surging 8.7% and Olympus rising 3.9%. Automobile maker Mazda Motor gained 7.6% and optics-related company Fujifilm added 11%, after both companies raised their earnings guidance. USD/JPY was last at 141.58 compared with 140.97 late Thursday in New York. The 10-year Japanese government bond yield fell one basis point to 0.235%.

Europe

European stocks closed mixed. The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.1% and the French CAC 40 and German DAX rose 0.6%, though the FTSE 100 fell 0.8%.

"European markets started strongly Friday, building on yesterday's US CPI-inspired gains, after China announced it was relaxing some of its Covid quarantine restrictions," CMC markets analyst Michael Hewson wrote. "However, the momentum has started to tail off heading into the weekend. Having seen the best one-day move since April 2020 and with bond markets closed for Veteran's Day, US markets have struggled to push on."

Insurer Prudential and luxury fashion group Burberry rally along with mining shares Anglo American, Antofagasta and Rio Tinto. Meanwhile, market sentiment is also boosted after Thursday's cooler-than-forecast U.S. inflation data. "The October inflation data will make it easier for the Federal Reserve to justify a more modest 50-basis-point [interest rate] hike in December," UBS Global Wealth Management chief investment officer Mark Haefele wrote. In the U.K., data showed the economy contracted 0.2% quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter, albeit less than the 0.5% decline expected in a WSJ survey of analysts.

North America

The S&P 500 closed higher Friday, nearly reclaiming the 4,000 market, in a stunning week of gains for the major US equity benchmarks that saw buyers come out in force after inflation data for October showed signs of cost pressures finally slowing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average eked out a narrow gain of 0.01% Friday, ending about 33 points to near 33,749 and posting a 4.2% weekly gain. The S&P 500 index climbed 0.9% Friday for a 5.9% weekly gain. The Nasdaq Composite Index booked at 1.9% gain Friday and 8.1% weekly advance, its best week since mid-March, according to Dow Jones Market Data.\

The rally in stocks came after the annual rate of inflation was pegged at 7.7% in October, down from a high this summer of 9.1%.

This week in global markets has been one of the wildest of the year. Many investors were fixated on the drama between two of the most prominent crypto firms, FTX and Binance, to start the week. That rapidly evolved into a crypto currency crisis that threatens to cause losses for investors big and small, with FTX filing for bankruptcy on Friday in a stunning fall for a pillar of the cryptocurrency market.

Even stock market investors were spooked by the news, leading to a market selloff midweek. By Thursday, though, fresh data on inflation -- and a glimmer of hope that it's coming down -- sent stocks rocketing higher. That enthusiasm continued in early trading Friday.

The result has been a rapid reversal in trades that have dominated for much of the year. Treasury prices staged a big rally, helping send yields lower. The dollar reversed course. And stocks soared. Tech stocks in particular have been big beneficiaries of the recent rally, stemming some of their large declines from earlier in the year.

Some investors said the dizzying moves would prove to be short-lived. It's a "temporary bear market rally," said Solomon Tadesse, head of equity quant research in North America for Societe Generale.

Shares of big tech companies kept jumping on Friday. Amazon's stock added 2.4% in recent trading, bringing gains for the week to almost 9%. Alphabet shares rose 1.75% and are up around 10% for the week.

Beijing's move to ease pandemic restrictions added to the buoyant mood in markets. The world's second-biggest economy has dragged on global growth this year by imposing lockdowns and constricting travel to control coronavirus.

On Friday, health authorities said Beijing was shortening the time travelers must stay in quarantine and curtailing mass testing, among other steps.

That sent prices for Brent crude oil up 2.9% to $96.35 a barrel. It also boosted shares of European luxury-goods companies, such as LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, which benefited from surging Chinese demand for their wares before the pandemic. American depositary receipts of Chinese companies including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Pinduoduo Inc. rose in New York.

But the attention of global investors and traders remained trained on slowing inflation in the U.S. The Fed's drive to raise rates at the fastest pace since the early 1980s to quell consumer-price rises has sent a shudder through financial markets this year.

Stocks have tumbled this year, particularly tech stocks that gained on the back of years of easy monetary policy. Government bonds have slid in price, sending yields higher. A surge in the dollar has caused difficulties in economies around the world, above all in developing nations that import commodities by paying in the U.S. currency.

On Friday, the S&P 500 entered its 107th day of trading in a bear market, heading toward the longest bear market since 2001, according to Dow Jones Market Data, which analyzed the number of days the index entered a bear market to when it exited.