During an address broadcast by Iranian state TV, President Masoud Pezeshkian apologised to the neighbouring countries for attacks launched following US-Israel strikes but asserted that Tehran will not strike "unless they attack first".
Pancakeswap (CAKE) dropped 4% on Friday as Curve Finance (CRV) publicly accused the decentralized exchange (DEX) of copying its code without permission, citing license violation.
UOB Global Economics & Markets Research, through Associate Economist Jester Koh, judges that Singapore’s GDP exposure to the Middle East conflict is modest under a short-lived shock scenario.
BNY’s Head of Markets Macro Strategy Bob Savage notes a sharp divergence between CNY forwards and spot, suggesting hedge unwinding alongside asset outflows. CNY has outperformed peers, yet the bank questions its safe haven role as spot flows show large outflows tied to expatriation.
The USD/CHF retreats during the North American session, down 0.53% as the Greenback weakens following a dismal jobs report, and a break to four day low beneath the 0.7800 figure. At the time of writing, the pair trades at 0.7771, yet it remains to end the week with gains of more than 1%.
Beth Hammack, President of the Federal Reserve (Fed) Bank of Cleveland, said that inflation is too high, adding that inflationary pressures are broad-based at the the United States (US) Monetary Policy Forum in New York City on Friday.
OCBC strategists Sim Moh Siong and Christopher Wong report that USD/MYR is consolidating near recent highs after an early-week run-up, supported by broader USD strength and soggy risk sentiment. Geopolitical headlines around Iran and energy markets are seen as key drivers.
The Middle East crisis has escalated into an all-out war after the US and Israel assassinated the Supreme Leader of Iran on February 28. Iran not only targeted Israel but also attacked United States (US) military bases around the Persian Gulf.
Silver (XAG/USD) trades modestly higher on Friday as the US Dollar and Treasury yields ease following softer-than-expected US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data. Despite the intraday bounce, the white metal remains on track for its first weekly decline in three weeks.
Susan Collins, President of the Federal Reserve (Fed) Bank of Boston, said that to cut interest rates again, the Fed needs to see clear evidence of inflation ebbing, adding that she sees no need to change the monetary policy stance urgently at a gathering in Springfield, Massachusetts on Friday.
WTI crude oil surged about 11% on Thursday, breaching above $87.00, its highest level since October 2023, in a session dominated by a single massive bullish candle that dwarfed every session of the past three months.
ING economists Lynn Song and Min Joo Kang anticipate an upward revision to Japan’s 2025 Q4 GDP, supported by stronger winter bonuses and improving real cash earnings as inflation cools.
Kazakhstan's central bank plans to allocate up to $350 million from its reserves into crypto-related investments, focusing on digital asset infrastructure firms and index funds rather than direct crypto purchases.
Isabel Schnabel, European Central Bank (ECB) member, said that the ECB’s is still in a good place even though the Iran war created some upside inflation risks at the 2026 United States (US) Monetary Policy Forum in New York on Friday.
The New Zealand Dollar erases some of its earlier losses, remains above the 200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) of 0.5874, seems poised to finish Friday’s session virtually unchanged.