- Darvish tames Ohtani as Padres thrash Dodgers
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Family affair as LeBron, Bronny James make Lakers bow
- Cancer, cardiovascular drugs tipped for Nobel as prize week opens
- As Great Salt Lake dries, Utah Republicans pardon Trump climate skepticism
- Amazon activist warns of 'critical situation' ahead of UN forum
- Mourners pay tribute to latest victims of deadly Channel crossing
- Phillies win thriller to level Mets series
- Yu bags first PGA Tour win with playoff win
- PSG held by Nice to leave Monaco clear at top of Ligue 1
- Lewandowski treble for leaders Barca as Atletico held
- Fresh Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Sucic stunner earns Real Sociedad draw against Atletico
- PSG draw with Nice, fail to reclaim top spot in Ligue 1
- Gudmundsson downs AC Milan after De Gea's penalty heroics for Fiorentina
- 'Yes' vote prevails in Kazakhstan nuclear plant vote: TV
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- 'Nothing gets in way of team,' says Celtics' MVP hopeful Tatum
- 'We will win!': Mozambique's ruling party confident at final vote rally
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Florida braces for Milton, FEMA head slams 'dangerous' Helene misinformation
- Postecoglou slams 'unacceptable' Spurs after 'terrible' loss at Brighton
- Marmoush double denies Bayern outright Bundesliga top spot
- Rallies worldwide call for Gaza, Lebanon ceasefire
- New 'Joker' film, a dark musical, tops N.America box office
- Man Utd stalemate keeps Ten Hag in danger, Spurs rocked by Brighton
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Vikings hold off Jets in London to stay unbeaten
- Ahead of attack anniversary, Netanyahu says: 'We will win'
- West Indies cruise to T20 World Cup win over Scotland
- Man Utd fire another blank in Aston Villa stalemate
- Lewandowski treble powers Liga leaders Barca to Alaves victory
- Russian activist killed on front line in Ukraine
- Openda strike briefly sends Leipzig top of Bundesliga
- Goal-shy Man Utd have to 'step up', says Ten Hag
- India bowl out Bangladesh for 127 in T20 opener
- Madueke rescues Chelsea in draw with 10-man Forest
- Beckett's belief rewarded as Bluestocking storms to Arc glory
- Trump on the stump, Harris hits airwaves in razor-edge US election
- Flash flooding kills three in northern Thailand
- Kaur leads India to victory over Pakistan in Women's T20 World Cup
- Juventus held by Cagliari after late penalty drama
- In France's Marseille, teen 'stabbed 50 times' then burned alive
- Ruthless Gauff beats Muchova in straight sets to win China Open
- India restrict Pakistan to 105-8 in Women's T20 World Cup
- England target repeat of Pakistan Test whitewash
- Penrith Panthers win fourth straight NRL title after downing Storm
- Weary Sinner happy for day off after battling into Shanghai last 16
- Pakistan's Masood warns England still a force without Stokes
Asian markets swing as traders assess Ukraine, inflation, Fed risk
Markets fluctuated in Asia on Friday as traders struggled to build on a rally in New York, with focus on the impact of the Ukraine war, surging inflation and Federal Reserve plans to fight it.
The crisis in eastern Europe has forced investors to reassess their outlook for the global economy owing to an expected surge in already soaring prices, which some commentators now warn could lead to recessions and stagflation.
Another rally on tech firms helped Wall Street clock up more healthy gains as data showed filings for US unemployment benefits hit their lowest level since September 1969, while a gauge of business activity hit an eight-month high in March.
That came even as speculation swirls that the Fed will turn even more hawkish in its drive to rein in inflation. Tech firms are more susceptible to higher borrowing costs.
Meanwhile, the White House warned it was concerned that Russian President Vladimir Putin could lash out using chemical, biological or even nuclear weapons as he grows increasingly frustrated about his campaign in Ukraine being bogged down.
That comes after US President Joe Biden said earlier this week that the Russian leader's "back is against the wall" and "the more his back is against the wall, the greater the severity of the tactics he may deploy".
Still, analysts said the gain on US markets could be attributed to the united front presented in Brussels against Putin by NATO, the G7 and European Union, and hope that a ceasefire can be reached.
The groups unveiled a series of fresh sanctions against Moscow over its invasion, though European nations did not announce a ban on imports of Russian oil, which helped push crude lower Thursday. Both main contracts were flat in Friday trade.
Still, the commodity remains elevated and analysts warned it could spike at any time.
"Oil is trading a touch lower after EU leaders could not table unanimous support for a comprehensive Russian energy embargo," said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.
"But the fact that oil is only trading a few dollars more down suggests the EU embargo was always a low-probability outcome. Still, it's tough to be short oil as US inventories continue to dwindle as we are bound to have more supply shocks in the future."
A move to restrict Moscow's ability to use the Russian central bank's gold reserves to circumvent Western sanctions sent the yellow metal up sharply.
Equity markets in Asia were mixed in early trade.
Tokyo, Hong Kong, Taipei, Manila and Jakarta slipped, though Sydney, Seoul, Singapore and Wellington edged up.
- Key figures around 0230 GMT -
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.2 percent at 28,062.18 (break)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.6 percent at 21,823.34
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 3,252.38
Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.1 percent at $119.14 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.1 percent at $112.23 per barrel
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 121.81 yen from 122.38 yen late Thursday
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1033 from $1.1000
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3210 from 1.3186
Euro/pound: UP at 83.52 pence from 83.39 pence
New York - DOW: UP 1.0 percent at 34,707.94 (close)
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 7,467.38 (close)
C.Cassis--PC