Global Economy Focuses on Interest Rates as Oil Prices Rebound

The global economy remains focused on interest rates and inflation risk after US stocks closed higher on Friday. Brent crude prices rose 1.6% to $106.00 per barrel, while WTI oil rebounded 1.1% to $93.47 per barrel.

Microsoft led the major technology companies with a 3.64% gain, driven by momentum in enterprise AI, Azure, and Copilot. Oppenheimer analyst Brian Schwartz reiterated an outperform rating and raised his price target to $570 from $515.

The US Federal Reserve's proposed framework for supervised payment-stablecoin issuers introduces additional reserve, capital, and compliance considerations, affecting Circle's shares, which fell 4.36% on Friday.