a firmer start is likely in europe on friday as traders reconsider the idea of a 100 basis points fed rate hike in two weeks in asia major benchmarks were mixed on mostly disappointing chinese growth data the dollar and treasurys yields dipped oil gained and gold was flat european stocks should recover some of thursdays heavy losses when trading resumes as investors continue to gauge the size of an expected federal reserve rate hike later this month on thursday wall street closed lower for a fifth straight session but trimmed losses as fedfunds futures showed the likelihood of a full percentage point rate rise dropped to 42 from 80 on wednesday afternoon this followed comments from some fed officials who said they still support a 075 percentage point interest rate hike read feds waller says 075point interest rate rise seems most likely in july in asia stocks were mostly lower following a mixed picture on economic growth in china data showed the economy grew 04 from a year earlier in the second quarter undershooting the 09 expansion expected by economists and reflecting the toll beijings stringent covid19 lockdowns have taken on economic activity however monthly indicators for juneincluding retail sales and industrial outputshowed fresh signs of recovery the dollar continued to be held back in asia after its advance paused on thursday remarks by fed officials had prompted traders to pull back on the idea of a 100 basis points interest rate hike in two weeks the euro which briefly fell below parity on thursday should recover rising to 106 by yearend as risk appetite is likely to improve said unicredit research monetary policy tightening has added to elevated uncertainty on the growth and inflation front as well as on corporate profits outlook while geopolitical risks linger unicredit said toward the yearend prospects of declining inflation and more balanced centralbank messaging as interest rates near their peak should support risk appetite and reduce safe haven flows to the dollar meanwhile markets expect the european central bank to reduce the gap between us and eurozone interest rates in coming quarters unicredit said treasury yields eased lower despite the latest us wholesale prices report exacerbating inflation worries concerns continue to build that the feds monetary tightening could push the us economy into recession with the 2year10year spread remaining below zero rates volatility is increasing as investors are stuck trying to figure out the new normal for central bank policy not so long ago it was 25 basis points and now as the bank of canada opted on wednesday for 100 basis points in one go no one seems to know said spi asset management oil futures made modest gains in asia in a possible technical rebound after they fell to their lowest finish since april on thursday td securities said energy demand growth may stay positive as markets continue to discount rising energysupply risks shrugging off reports of a potentially very big increase in supply from gulf nations however as of thursday week to date wti prices had dropped nearly 9 while brent had fallen by more than 7 speculative money flows out of oil and commodities  the last bastions of hope for investors looking to hedge losses in bonds and equitiesis a clear reflection of the deteriorating outlook for economic growth prospects said dtn gold managed to stem its losses in asian trade as the dollar weakened slightly oanda said for now a break of 1700oz seems very possible with key support at 1680oz bullion had settled at a more than 15month low on thursday while silver and platinum hit fresh 2year lows as the strong dollar weighed on metals prices copper was down almost 3 on fears of weakening demand anz said industrial metals like copper have come under sustained pressure as headwinds gather against global growth this has been exacerbated by chinas realestate troubles it said the same concerns also hit iron ore futures which were recently around 6 lower data released earlier friday also signaled weakness with china property investment having slid 54 in the first half construction starts down 344 and home sales by volumea key indicator of demand318 lower singaporechina recorded its weakest growth rate in more than two years a measure of the costs imposed on the worlds secondlargest economy by beijings zerotolerance approach to covid19 gross domestic product expanded at a 04 annual rate in the april to june period chinas national bureau of statistics said friday that was the worst performance since the first quarter of 2020 when the pandemic first erupted and the economy shrank 69 after the central chinese metropolis of wuhan became the first city in the world to lock down to stem the spread of covid19 economists polled by the wall street journal had forecast chinas economy to grow 09 chinas newhome prices fell further in june realestate investment kept sliding in first half beijingthe decline in chinas newhome prices widened in june as the embattled property sector continued to struggle to shrug off the impact of last years regulatory crackdown despite beijings supportive measures to counter plummeting home prices average newhome prices in 70 major cities fell 129 in june from a year earlier compared with mays 079 decrease according to wall street journal calculations based on data released friday by chinas national bureau of statistics chinas central bank kept its key policy rates unchanged on friday while injecting fresh liquidity into the financial market the peoples bank of china held the interest rate of the oneyear mediumterm lending facility steady at 285 and the sevenday reverse repurchase agreement rate unchanged at 21 according to a brief statement on its website fed official says 075point interest rate rise seems most likely in july federal reserve officials are wrestling with how to set expectations for their policy meeting in two weeks after another scorching inflation report threatened to again upend their unusually precise guidance fed governor christopher waller on thursday pushed back against market expectations that the central bank would lift its benchmark federalfunds rate by a full percentage point at its july 2627 gathering even though he left the door open to such a move if economic data revealed strongerthanexpected demand italian prime minister mario draghi tendered his resignation thursday after his coalition collapsed because of differences over how to respond to the fallout of the war in ukraine leaving the eurozones thirdlargest economy in political crisis mr draghi said he would resign after a key party in his coalition pulled its support for his government following squabbles among the groups on whether to send arms to ukraine and how much financial support to give to italian families reeling from high inflation shell ceo warns parts of europe may need to ration energy londonshell chief executive ben van beurden said europe may need to ration energy and faces the prospect of sharply escalating prices as the continent gears up for a really tough winter energy prices have soared in europe amid tight supplies booming post lockdown demand and more recently the war in ukraine the european union has agreed to a ban on russian oil by the end of the year in response to moscows invasion of ukraine threatening global supply russian natural gas flows to europe meanwhile have been curtailed moscow says thats due to technical issues while european governments say russian president vladimir putin is using energy as a weapon rio tinto says 2q ironore exports up but cautions on economic outlook rio tinto plc on friday sounded a cautious note on the global economic outlook even as it reported a lift in shipments of its flagship product iron ore the main ingredient in steel the angloaustralian mining company highlighted concerns about a growing risk of a recession and said the trade disruptions food protectionism and energy crisis squeezing supply chains will need to ease significantly before inflation pressures subside 0700svk may new orders in industry all times in gmt powered by onclusive and dow jones write to us at newslettersdowjonescom we offer an enhanced version of this briefing that is optimized for viewing on mobile devices and sent directly to your email inbox if you would like to sign up please go to httpsnewspluswsjcomsubscriptions this article is a text version of a wall street journal newsletter published earlier today