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US stocks are on track for their worst week in more than a month as a stunning rebound in equities stalled amid growing concerns over America’s fiscal outlook.

S&P 500 contracts edged higher on Friday after three days of losses. The gauge remain on course for its worst weekly performance since the selloff following US President Donald Trump’s tariffs announcements at the beginning of April. The dollar fell 0.4% against a basket of currencies. Treasuries gained, with the 10-year yield dropping two basis points to 4.51%.

European stocks rose 0.3%, while a gauge for Asian equities is on track for a sixth straight week of gains.

China has asked the Netherlands to relax export restrictions related to semiconductors, Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Caspar Veldkamp said following a meeting with officials in Beijing.

Semiconductors and “the policy regarding export controls and export licensing” are a “topic of continuous discussion,” Veldkamp told reporters Thursday after discussions with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

Asked whether China requested an easing of such restrictions, Veldkamp said “always of course, that’s in their interest.” He added that national security concerns and autonomous licensing decision making remain in the Netherlands’ interest.

Germany’s economy grew twice as much as initially estimated at the start of 2025 as consumers and businesses increased spending and trade surged in anticipation of US tariffs.

Gross domestic product rose 0.4% in the first quarter, the statistics office said Friday, revising a preliminary reading for 0.2% growth.

Private consumption jumped 0.5% from the previous quarter and investment rose 0.9%, while inventories were a drag. Net trade contributed 0.9 percentage point to growth. A breakdown for the entire 20-nation euro zone is due on June 6.

The robust performance of two major Hong Kong stock listings this week has raised hopes that a small group of elite Chinese companies may start driving a shift to end the city’s historical discount to mainland markets.

The latest addition to the cohort is Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals Co., China’s largest drugmaker by market value, which surged as much as 37% in its trading debut Friday in the Asian financial hub after raising HK$9.9 billion ($1.3 billion). The company’s H-shares briefly commanded a 0.3% premium over its Shanghai-listed A-shares, before reverting to a discount of 4%.

This comes after battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.’s $5.2 billion’s initial public offering in the city, the world’s biggest listing this year. Its shares have soared 23% since its Tuesday debut and are around 10% pricier than its Shenzhen-listed stock.

Borrowers are finding a silver lining in this week’s surge in Japanese bond yields with higher rates attracting credit investors.

At least 10 issuers including drinks producers Kirin Holdings Co. and Suntory Holdings Ltd., as well as real estate company Mitsui Fudosan Co. and the Republic of Indonesia rushed to the market Friday. They priced more than ¥530 billion ($3.7 billion) of bonds in total, with maturities of mainly 10 years or less, in one of the busiest days this year.

The string of bond deals came after Japanese bond yields, especially for the longest tenors, moved sharply higher this week and made the offerings more attractive to investors. Some of the borrowers are returning to the market after delaying or canceling their planned deals in April as US tariffs rocked markets.

Singapore’s key inflation gauge accelerated for the first time since September driven by an increase in healthcare, education and food prices.

The core inflation rate, which excludes housing and private transportation costs, stood at 0.7% in April from a year earlier, compared with 0.5% in March, according to a statement by the Department of Statistics Singapore. That’s also higher than the median estimate of 0.5% in a Bloomberg News survey of analysts and ends six straight months of deceleration.

Overall inflation rate held steady at 0.9% last month, higher than the 0.8% median estimate. The annual healthcare inflation rate was 2.5% in April, higher than the 1.8% in March. Food prices increased 1.4% in April from a year ago while education climbed 0.5%.

US President Donald Trump initiated a phone call with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and discussed tariffs in general terms, just as Tokyo’s top negotiator left for the US for another round of trade talks.

Trump didn’t say anything specific about tariffs while Ishiba reiterated Japan’s existing stance over the levies during a 45-minute meeting, the prime minister told reporters on Friday in Tokyo. The two agreed they’re looking forward to meeting in person at a Group of Seven leaders’ gathering in June in Canada, Ishiba said.

The phone call between the two leaders was the first since early April when the US ramped up its tariffs against nations around the world including Japan. The call signaled the Asian nation still has the attention of the president while it appears to be falling behind other countries in striking a trade deal. Ishiba said Japan will keep seeking a removal of the additional US levies.

Nissan Motor Co. has said job cuts it announced as part of a broader restructuring at the company could cost an additional ¥60 billion ($418 million) this fiscal year.

The estimate on expense that will be incurred to eliminate jobs was shared with analysts by Chief Financial Officer Jeremie Papin earlier this month, a transcript of the call published Friday showed. The additional costs will be reflected in the current fiscal year that began April 1, according to the filing.

The ailing carmaker had vowed to cut 20,000 jobs and shutter seven of its 17 factories after reporting a net loss of $4.5 billion during the financial year that ended in March. While the job losses and plant closures will include domestic operations, it hasn’t been decided yet where they’ll be made, the filing cited Papin as saying.

Brazil’s Finance Ministry scrapped plans to tax transfers to offshore funds only hours after the announcement of the levy led to a selloff in the currency.

In a post on X just after 11:30 p.m. local time, the ministry said it had concluded after “dialogue and technical evaluation” that the tax known as IOF would return to zero for the transfers. That compared with the 3.5% rate it had announced earlier.

The reversal came after an emergency meeting in the ministry where officials debated how to calm investor fears over the tax plan they had just announced earlier in the evening, according to a person familiar with the matter. Other elements of the package detailed Thursday, including a higher tax on remittances, remain intact thus far.

Japan’s core inflation accelerated to 3.5% in April, government data showed Friday, bolstered in part by surging rice prices, as the central bank considers pausing its rate hike posture to assess the impact of U.S. tariffs.

The core inflation figure, which strips out prices for fresh food, was higher than expectations of 3.4%, according to economists polled by Reuters, rising from 3.2% in the previous month and marking the highest level since January 2023.

Headline inflation climbed 3.6% from a year ago, steady from the prior month and staying above the Bank of Japan’s 2% target for more than three years.

Oil headed for its first weekly decline in three, as OPEC+ weighed another bumper production increase that could add supplies into a market already expected to face a glut.

Brent fell toward $64 a barrel, declining for a fourth session and bringing its weekly loss to about 2%. West Texas Intermediate was below $61. OPEC and its allies discussed another major output-quota increase of 411,000 barrels a day for July, although no agreement has yet been made, delegates said.

Crude has shed about 14% this year, hitting the lowest since 2021 last month, as OPEC+ loosened supply curbs at a faster-than-expected pace, just as the US-led trade war posed headwinds for demand. Data this week showed another rise in US commercial oil stockpiles, adding to concerns about a surplus.

The US and China have agreed to maintain communication following a call between Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu and US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, according to a brief readout released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Friday.

Both sides exchanged thoughts on crucial issues during the call on Thursday, the statement said, without elaborating.

The US Department of State issued a similar statement Thursday, briefly noting the consensus on the importance of the bilateral relationship and an agreement to keep open lines of communication.

Gold headed for the biggest weekly gain in more than a month, as investor concern about the US fiscal deficit boosted the metal’s appeal.

Bullion traded above $3,300 an ounce, on course for a weekly climb of about 3%. After Moody’s Ratings’ decision to strip the US of its top credit rating, investors are now concerned that President Donald Trump’s signature tax bill — which passed the House and now goes to the Senate — will boost the already swelling deficit.

Bullion has surged by more than a quarter this year, and is about $200 below the all-time-high reached last month. Its ascent has been underpinned by the fallout from the US-led trade war, which stoked haven demand, as well as more recently by the nation’s fiscal concerns. Central banks have also been consistent gold buyers as they seek to diversify their reserves.

Asia-Pacific markets mostly climbed Friday as investors assess a slew of economic data from the region.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1.04% and the Topix climbed 0.89%. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.36% while the small-cap Kosdaq was down 0.34%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index and mainland China’s CSI 300 traded flat at the open.

Futures on Wall Street are looking to advance after China cited progress in trade talks with the US, stating that both sides will continue communicating.

The Dow futures are up 30 points, S&P 500 futures are at the flat line, while those on the Nasdaq are below the flat line.

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The street is currently nervous owing to concerns on rising deficit. That was evident in yesterday’s price action as well.

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