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TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese government bonds recovered slightly on Friday, after a volatile week that saw fiscal and inflation concerns drive super-long yields to record highs. Yields on 20-, 30-, and 40-year JGBs have been climbing, fuelled by worry over the country's worsening fiscal health, as some political parties advocate consumption tax cuts to counter rising prices. Yields move inversely to bond prices.

SYDNEY (Reuters) -As businesses globally fret about sky-high U.S. tariffs reviving rampant inflation, in Australia, the redirection of cheap Chinese goods is expected to provide relief for consumers and policymakers worried about stubborn cost pressures. Alibaba's Taobao and JD.COM are the latest Chinese e-commerce platforms to enter the Australian market, seeking to tap into the bargain-starved country's appetite for online deals. The expected flood of cheap goods from China, on top of a recent slowdown in inflation, is among several reasons the central bank felt confident enough to cut interest rates this week.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Oil prices dropped for a fourth consecutive session on Friday and were set for their first weekly decline in three weeks, weighed down by renewed supply pressure from another possible OPEC+ output hike in July. Brent futures fell 48 cents, or 0.8%, to $63.96 a barrel by 0635 GMT. Both contracts touched their lowest in more than one week on Thursday after a Bloomberg News report that OPEC+ was considering another large production increase at a meeting on June 1.

Japan's top tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa intends to visit the United States again on May 30 for a fourth round of trade talks, just one week after this weekend's visit, two sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. During the trip next week, Akazawa aims to meet U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, whom the sources said will not be able to join Friday's third round of talks involving Akazawa, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Ahead of the talks, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba held a 45-minute phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump upon Trump's request, where the two discussed tariffs, economic cooperation and security issues, Ishiba said.

Volatility Shares launched XRP futures ETFs on Nasdaq.

Investing.com-- Japanese consumer price index inflation grew more than expected in April after a bumper springtime wage hike helped boost private spending and offset headwinds from higher U.S. trade tariffs.

Shorting stocks has been a coin-flip in 2025, with almost 50% of short positions unprofitable this year, S3 Partners said.

Data from the British Retail Consortium shows consumers are more optimistic about the economy, but retail spending expectations have dipped slightly.

US stock futures were at a standstill as Wall Street looked forward to wrapping up a week marked by growing doubts about the economy's health under Trump's trade and tax agendas.

The data underscores the Bank of Japan's predicament of balancing price pressures from persistent food inflation against growth headwinds from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs. The core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes fresh food but includes oil prices, rose 3.5% in April from a year earlier, exceeding market forecasts for a 3.4% gain and accelerating from a 3.2% increase in March. "Underlying inflation remained strong in April despite the slashing of public high school fees," said Marcel Thieliant, head of Asia-Pacific at Capital Economics.