Wall Street stocks halted their immediate post-election surge this week and the dollar also saw its first daily retreat on Friday since the results unfolded over a week ago.
Attention switched to the state of other major economies, with nerves jangling about the threat of global trade war.
China's latest economic health check showed a mixed bag of soft industrial readings and upbeat retail growth for last month. But pervasive gloom about possible U.S. tariff hikes, disappointment at recent stimulus details and ongoing property sector worries saw Chinese stocks drop again.
Chinese annual house price deflation deepened in October to 5.9% - its biggest drop since 2015 - even though the monthly decline moderated slightly to a fall of 0.5%. Property investment in China also fell at a faster 10.3% in the first 10 months of 2024 compared with 10.1% over January to September.
The CSI300 stock index lost almost 2% on Friday, completing its worst week since July - led by declines in the real estate sector. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was only marginally in the red, but clocked a sixth straight day of declines.
The offshore yuan, however, perked up against a retreating dollar as the 10-year yield premium on U.S. Treasuries over Chinese equivalents steadied at the widest since May.
The dollar also fell back against Japan's yen, with traders wary that excessive yen weakness may draw Bank of Japan intervention and the latest Japanese GDP readout above forecasts. With a key BoJ press conference due on Monday, Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said the authorities would take appropriate action against sharp exchange-rate moves.
The darker global demand outlook, however, has seen crude oil prices fall back again despite this week's drop in U.S. inventories.
Britain added to that cloud, showing its economy contracted unexpectedly in September and growth slowed to a crawl over the third quarter - an early setback for finance minister Rachel Reeves' ambitions to kick-start growth.
In the euro zone, Germany's economy continues to be the big worry. Even though the European Commission forecast a relatively brisk 0.8% expansion for the euro area this year, it cut its German estimate to show a 0.1% contraction.
European Central Bank board member Isabel Schnabel said the ECB should continue to use interest rates as its primary policy tool and extraordinary measures such as bond buying or far-reaching 'forward guidance' should be used only sparingly.
In company news, there was 6% rally in Walt Disney after the entertainment giant reported a quarterly earnings beat and robust guidance.
On the flipside, shares of automaker Tesla closed down 5.8% and Rivian Automotive dropped 14.3% on Thursday after Reuters reported that Trump's transition team is planning to kill the $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric-vehicle purchases as part of broader tax-reform legislation.
In Europe on Friday, vaccine makers came under pressure after Trump said he had selected Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental activist who has spread misinformation on vaccines, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
Overall, Wall Street stock futures were in the red ahead of Friday's bell. Popular 'Trump trades', such as Bitcoin, were firmer again but well off this week's highs and the leading cryptocurrency was back below the $90,000 level on Friday.
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