General Motors revealed today that it intends to invest $918 million in four U.S. manufacturing facilities. Of this sum, $854 million will go toward preparing the facilities to produce the company's sixth generation Small Block V-8 engine, and the remaining $64 million will be spent in Rochester, New York, and Defiance, Ohio, on castings and other components to support the production of electric vehicles.

With these investments, the company will be able to support its expanding line of EV products while also bolstering its full-size truck and SUV business, which is the best in the industry.

MACROECONOMIC DATA ANALYSIS

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Sunday that Germany must gradually reduce its reliance on China because job losses in Europe's largest economy would result from decoupling from the Chinese market. In order to lessen reliance on Asia's economic superpower, which has been the nation's top trading partner since 2016, Germany is developing a new China strategy that adopts a more sober outlook on relations.

Following China's relaxation of its COVID-19 activity restrictions, investors poured a record $12.7 billion into emerging-market debt and equity funds in the week ending on Wednesday, according to data released on Friday by BofA Global Research. Many different asset classes, from commodities and mining stocks to currencies and equity markets in well-known tourist destinations, have benefited from the abrupt change in Chinese policy.

CURRENCIES

The US dollar fell in early Friday European trade, remaining near seven-month lows amid concerns about a slowing US economy, while the sterling fell after weak retail sales data. The dollar index which measures the value of the greenback against a basket of six other currencies slipped by 0.09% to 101.743.

GOLD

Gold prices held their luster for the fifth week in a row as bullish investors pushed toward a test of the $1,950 per ounce level on Friday. According to analysts, a breach would be critical to sustaining the precious metal's rally, based on forecasts for smaller U.S. rate hikes. Gold futures rose by 0.20% to $1,927 per ounce.

OIL

Oil settled up by around $1 per barrel on Friday, marking a second consecutive weekly gain as China's economic prospects improved, raising expectations for fuel demand in the world's second-largest economy. Brent crude futures jumped by 1.74% to $87.66 a barrel, while the West Texas Intermediate increased by 1.37% to $81.96 a barrel.

INDICES

USA: S&P500 +1.89%, Dow Jones Industrial Average +1.00%, Nasdaq Composite +2.86%

Europe: FTSE 100 +0.30%, DAX +0.76%, CAC 40 +0.63%

Asia: Nikkei 225 +0.56%, Hang Seng +1.82%, CSI 300 +0.61%, Nifty 50 -0.44%