AFP, New York :
Global markets sagged Friday but still turned in one of the strongest weeks of 2016 despite worries about economic growth and weak commodity prices.
China’s intervention to support the yen and scare off devaluation speculators, and a deal struck to possibly avert Britain’s pullout from the European Union, reduced some of the risks that had dogged markets for weeks.
But there was still turbulence in the oil market, with prices falling at the end of the week amid doubts over a possible deal between Russia and key OPEC producers to ease the market glut.
US stocks closed lower Friday but racked up their best week of the year, with the S&P 500 climbing 2.8 percent. London’s FTSE index gained 4.3 percent in the week; Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 surged 6.8 percent; and the Shanghai Composite rose 3.5 percent after reopening Monday following a week-long Lunar New Year break.
But for Friday alone, European shares were lower as traders waited to see if British Prime Minister David Cameron could strike a deal with his EU counterparts that would give Britain some breaks to encourage it to remain in the 28-country European Union.
London’s FTSE 100 index of top companies and Paris’ CAC 40 both shed 0.4 percent at the close while the Frankfurt DAX fell 0.8 percent.
