Europe's Stoxx index rose 0.8 per cent, led by energy, banking and utilities, though shares stayed on track to snap a four-week rising streak. While the US S&P 500 index is down one per cent so far this week, index futures on the benchmark gained 0.3 per cent. Nasdaq contracts also advanced, while in New York premarket trading, chip equipment maker Applied Materials rose 4.1 per cent after issuing a forecast-topping sales forecast. A host of tech names, including Nvidia Corp.
However, some investors said hawkish commentary did not necessarily mean rates would peak at higher levels than previously thought. Fears are mounting though, that relentlessly rising rates will hit economic growth, with a critical segment of the Treasury yield curve at the most steeply inverted in four decades -- historically such an inversion has flagged recession in the world's largest economy. Growth-sensitive copper and oil prices were poised for weekly losses, pressured by concerns over a worsening demand outlook.
“It's just too soon to know exactly how this is going to play through the economy and that's the biggest risk,” she told Bloomberg Television.