asian equities rose and the dollar dipped further friday after fresh data showing continued slowing of inflation fanned hopes the federal reserve is nearing the end of its longrunning campaign of interest rate hikes the surprise onmonth drop in producer prices in march  and the biggest since april 2020  came a day after the consumer price index dropped more than expected suggesting the central banks tightening campaign was finally paying off a higherthanforecast reading on jobless claims added to the positive mood which helped send wall streets three main indexes rallying including a two percent advance for the nasdaq investors are now betting the fed will hike rates 25 basis points at its may gathering but possibly hold after that with some still clinging to hopes it will even cut by the end of the year this weeks data has reassured investors that inflation is coming down and that the economy could be heading for a soft landing even though minutes from the feds march policy meeting revealed some officials see a mild recession by the years end coming fast on the heels of yesterdays betterthanexpected consumer prices reading todays producer price index print plus the inline jobless claims report reinforces the view that the labour market continues to rebalance and that the postpandemic inflation scare is ending said spi asset managements stephen innes and as we move into the seventhinning stretch where arguably much could happen between now and the final pitch the combination of progress on inflation and the softer labour market has been encouraging it reinforces the view that the fed may be in the 9th inning of the hiking cycle which markets seem to be endorsing today as yields on 10year treasuries declined asian equities rose in early trade friday with tokyo leading the way followed by hong kong shanghai sydney seoul taipei manila and jakarta inflation is not surprising to the upside que nguyen at research affiliates said at the same time the job market seems stable and so what were getting today is sort of an optimistic outlook that were going to have an almost like a goldilocks situation where inflations going to slow but the economy is not crashing with thursdays data lowering expectations for where rates will top out the dollar has come under pressure hitting a oneyear low against the euro and it continued to struggle friday falling further versus the single currency while the pound was at its best level since june focus now turns to the corporate earnings season which kicks off in earnest friday with results from banking titans including jpmorgan chase wells fargo and citigroup traders are keenly awaiting their outlook statements in light of the upheaval in the banking sector last month that saw three us lenders go under and credit suisse bought by rival ubs oil prices rose in asian business extending a rally sparked by major producers decision this month to slash output by more than a million barrels a day the opec group said thursday the move had put world markets on course to be in deficit which will widen as the year goes on with chinas reopening adding extra pressure eurodollar up at 11059 from 11050 on thursday pounddollar up at 12529 from 12526 dollaryen down at 13254 yen from 13265 yen europound up at 8827 pence at 8820 pence west texas intermediate up 05 percent at 8256 per barrel brent north sea crude up 05 percent at 8648 per barrel new york  dow up 11 percent at 3402969 close