Wall Street selloff accelerated on Friday, with the Dow Jones falling for the 5th straight session by more than 270 points as Apple Inc tumbled 3.3% after a federal judge ruled that the tech giant can no longer force developers to use in-app purchasing. The S&P lost 0.8%, also its 5th decline in a row as investors became again concerned that surging Covid-19 cases would derail the economic recovery. Meanwhile, the latest data showed US producer inflation rose 0.7% from a month earlier in August, above expectations of 0.6% and pressuring the Fed to step back easy policies. On the bright side, a call between President Biden and President Xi Jinping raised hopes that the tensions between the two countries will be eased. For the week, the Dow Jones dropped about 2.2%and the S&P 500 retreated 1.7%, their biggest weekly declines since June. The Nasdaq Composite went down 1.6% for the week.

WTI crude futures settled 2.3% higher at $69.72 a barrel on Friday, rebounding from a 1.7% plunge in the previous session, and advanced 0.5% for the week on supply concerns and as trade talks between the US and China supported riskier assets. About three-quarters of US Gulf of Mexico offshore oil output remains halted due to disruptions caused by Hurricane Ida. Also, US crude oil inventories fell by 1.529 million barrels to 423.9 million barrels last week, the fifth straight decline and the lowest level since September 2019. Meanwhile, a phone call between President Biden and President Xi Jinping boosted hopes for more global trade and warmer relations.

Nickel futures surged past $20,200 a tonne for the first time since May of 2014 boosted by strong demand from stainless steel mills and electric vehicle battery makers, along with shrinking inventories. Nickel inventories in ShFE warehouses fell to a record low of 4,455 tonnes in August while stockpiles in LME warehouses declined over 30% since mid-April.

European stock markets reversed gains to close mostly lower on Friday, tracking losses on Wall Street as economic uncertainty persists while hot inflation pressures the Fed to step back easy policies. Elsewhere, US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping spoke on the phone for the first time since February, discussing a range of transnational issues and touching on economic issues. Among single stocks, French petroleum firm Rubis fell 6.2% after problems in the Caribbean region weighed on its otherwise improving first-half earnings. European stocks ended lower for the second week in a row for the first time since the end of April.

Gold closed the week below $1,800 an ounce, not far from a two-week low of $1,781 hit on Wednesday and suffering its first weekly loss since early August amid strengthening US dollar and uncertainties over the timeline for the Fed tapering. The latest data showed US producer inflation rose by 0.7% from a month earlier in August, above market expectations of 0.6%. In Europe, the ECB said Thursday it would slow the pace of its pandemic bond purchases for the rest of the year but did not signal an end to its bond-buying programme. Still, losses were prevented by the news that India's gold imports in August nearly doubled from a year earlier to the highest in five months on strong demand as jewelers build inventories for the upcoming festive season.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index lost 0.4% to 20,633 on Friday, the lowest since end-August dragged down mainly by industrials, financials, healthcare, and utilities stocks while energy shares were higher, tracking rising oil prices. On the data front, the unemployment rate in Canada fell to a pandemic-low of 7.1% and the economy added a weaker-than-expected 90K jobs last month. Meanwhile, early polling stations open this weekend, as Canadians start voting for their federal elections. For the week, the S&P/TSX index went down around 0.9%.

The unemployment rate in Canada fell for the third straight month to 7.1% in August of 2021 from 7.5% in July, slightly below market forecasts of 7.3%. That was the lowest jobless rate since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in February of 2020, as most jurisdictions in Canada had implemented the final or near-final stages of their public health reopening plans. The total number of unemployed fell by 81,400, the number of people in the labour force increased by 9,000 and the labour force participation rate dropped by 0.1 percentage points to 65.1%. Employment rose by 90,200, the third consecutive monthly increase, but missing market estimates of 100,000. Job gains were concentrated in full-time work (+69,000; +0.4%). Unemployment for youth aged 15 to 24 was little changed in August.

Industrial output in India increased 11.5 percent year-on-year in July of 2021, lower than 13.6 percent in the previous month, but above market forecasts of 10.7 percent. It is the fifth month of double-digit growth due to low base effects from last year and as the economy recovers from the coronavirus hit. In July, manufacturing output advanced 10.5 percent, led by electrical equipment (42.9 percent) and motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers (35.5 percent). Also, output rose for mining (19.5 percent) and electricity (11.1 percent).

Brazil's retail sales rose 1.2 percent from a month earlier in July of 2021, following a revised 0.9 percent gain in June and beating market expectations of a 0.7 percent increase. It was the fourth monthly advance in a row, with 5 out of 8 activities recording positive growth rates, led by sales of other personal and domestic use goods (19.1 percent); textiles, clothing and footwear (2.8 percent); office, computer and communication equipment and supplies (0.6 percent); hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco (0.2 percent); and pharmaceutical, medical, and cosmetic goods (0.1 percent). On the other hand, sales shrank for books, newspapers, magazines and stationery (-5.2 percent), furniture and household appliances (-1.4 percent); and fuels and lubricants (-0.3 percent). On an annual basis, retail sales hiked 5.7 percent, easing from a 6.3 percent jump in June and comfortably above market expectations of 3.45 percent percent climb.