Welcome to Markets Desk, your end-of-week wrap on the moves that matter.
The dollar index finished Friday essentially flat, caught between competing forces. A roughly three percent drop in crude oil weighed on the greenback, while safe-haven demand provided a floor. The ten-year Treasury yield slipped under two basis points after touching a fresh one-and-a-half-year high earlier in the session.
Turning to commodities, natural gas retreated about one and a half percent, sliding back toward last week's two-and-a-quarter-month low. The pressure came from two directions — domestic inventories sitting well above their five-year average, and weather forecasts shifting slightly cooler heading into next week, trimming near-term demand expectations.
In the soft commodities space, cocoa staged a modest recovery, closing up better than one percent in both New York and London after a bruising two-week selloff had pushed prices to a two-week low on Thursday. The bounce looks largely technical — pre-weekend short-covering rather than any fresh fundamental catalyst, though traders will be watching West African supply signals closely in the sessions ahead.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
