German stocks climbed on Friday after U.S. tech giants Microsoft and Alphabet posted strong quarterly earnings and an ECB survey showed Euro zone consumers lowered their expectation for inflation over the next 12 months in March.

The Bank of Japan left its key interest rate unchanged near zero and the bank's latest projections showed the underlying inflation staying around 2 percent that further damped expectations for aggressive tightening in future. The BoJ policy board, headed by Governor Kazuo Ueda, unanimously decided to hold the overnight interest rate at around 0 to 0.1 percent.

British consumer sentiment improved in April on slowing inflation as well as expectations about further tax cuts, a monthly survey conducted by the market research group GfK revealed Friday. The consumer confidence index rose to -19 in April from -21 in March. The score was also better than economists' forecast of -20.

Asian stocks rose broadly on Friday as Microsoft and Google's parent company Alphabet both beat Wall Street's Q1 expectations, offsetting Meta Platforms' disappointing forward guidance.

Lincoln Park, New Jersey -based ConSup North America Inc. is recalling around 85,984 pounds of ready-to-eat or RTE sliced prosciutto ham product produced in Germany without the benefit of equivalent inspection, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service or FSIS announced.

Expert market comment made by senior analyst Alex Kuptsikevich of the FxPro Analyst Team: Cooler Bitcoin

Currency and commodity pairs gained momentum. Pound-dollar, Bitcoin-dollar, and oil-dollar pairs rose, while the Aussie dollar pair corrected. Major financial news: potential SEC rejection of ether ETFs, Swiss National Bank's record profit, and rising oil prices amid Middle East tensions.

The U.S. PCE index, scheduled for release later today, may exceed expectations, dampening prospects for Fed interest rate cuts.

Expert market comment made by senior analyst Alex Kuptsikevich of the FxPro Analyst Team: US economy: slower growth with stronger inflation

Expert market comment made by senior analyst Alex Kuptsikevich of the FxPro Analyst Team: The Nasdaq100 might retreat to 15800