Currencies

• EUR/USD rose during the Thursday session as traders continued to sell the Dollar overall.

• USD/CAD Canada's dollar rallied to parity with its U.S. counterpart for the first time in almost three months as commodities rose after the Federal Reserve pledged to extend its freeze on U.S. borrowing costs.
  • The Canadian currency, appreciated 0.3 percent to C$1.0018 per U.S. dollar at 5 p.m. Toronto time, after touching 99.82 Canadian cents.

Commodities

• Oil traded near the highest price in a week and headed for the first weekly gain in three amid signs of economic recovery in the U.S., the world's biggest crude- consuming nation.
  • Crude March contract yesterday gained 30 cents to $99.70, the highest since Jan. 19. Prices are up 1.3 percent this week and 17 percent higher the past year.

• Gold fell from a 7-week high on Friday as speculators booked profits ahead of U.S. GDP data, but prices were heading for a fourth week of gains with the Federal Reserve's pledge to keep interest rates near zero for some time supporting sentiment.
  • Gold hit a high around $1,723 an ounce before slipping to $1,717.40 by 0258 GMT, down $2.64. Gold rallied to $1,729.76 on Thursday, its strongest since early December.

Equities

• Asian stocks swung between gains and losses as rising commodity prices pushed energy and mining shares higher.
  • Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.1 percent.
  • Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was little changed.

• US stocks fell, reversing a rally that sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average toward its highest level since 2008 earlier yesterday.
  • The S&P 500 lost 0.6 percent to 1,318.43 at 4 p.m. New York time, reversing a gain of as much as 0.6 percent.
  • The Dow fell 22.33 points.

• European stocks advanced, climbing 20 percent from the September low and entering a bull market.
  • FTSE 100 Index rose 1.3 percent.
  • DAX Index gained 1.8 percent.

Sources: Bloomberg, FT