US retail sales rose by 1.0pct in February - in line with forecasts and the strongest gain in four months. Excluding autos, sales rose 0.7pct. US business inventories rose by 0.9pct, slightly ahead of expectations and sales lifted 2.0pct - the best gain in nine months. But consumer sentiment eased from 77.5 to 68.2 in March, below expectations.

[Get this delivered to your inbox for FREE. Subscribe to our daily Markets Newsletter.]

European shares fell to 2011 lows on Friday, with investors shocked by the devastation caused by the Japanese earthquake. Insurers were amongst the hardest hit. The FTSEurofirst index lost 0.7pct, the German Dax fell by 1.2pct and the UK FTSE eased by 0.3pct.

US sharemarkets finished higher on Friday but investors remained generally cautious in response to news of a powerful earthquake in Japan and on-going tensions in the Middle East. The Dow Jones index rose by almost 60pts or 0.5pct with the S&P 500 higher by 0.7pct and the Nasdaq gained 14.6pts or 0.5pct. Over the week the Dow Jones fell by 1.0pct with the S&P 500 down 1.3pct and Nasdaq lost 2.5pct.

US treasuries eased on Friday (yields higher) as investors squared positions ahead of this week´s Federal Reserve meeting. US 2yr yields rose 1pt to 0.64pct and US 10yr yields lifted 4pts to 3.40pct. Over the week US 2yr yields fell by 4pts and US 10yr yields fell by 9pts.

The greenback fell against major currencies from late in the European session and during US trade. The Euro lifted from lows near US$1.3750 to close US trade near the day´s highs at US$1.3900. The Euro has spiked to US$1.3970 this morning. The Aussie dollar fell from US100.40c in early European trade to US99.65c, before rebounding to end US trade near US101.55c. And after initially easing on news of the earthquake, the Japanese yen lifted from 83.30 yen per US dollar to around JPY81.65, ending US trade near JPY81.90. The yen has lifted to JPY81.80 this morning.

US crude oil prices eased again on Friday with investors relieved that Saudi Arabia was unaffected by the ´´day of rage´´ protests. The Nymex crude oil contract fell by US$1.54 or 1.5pct to US$101.16 a barrel. And the London Brent crude price fell by US$1.59 to US$113.84 a barrel. Over the week Nymex crude fell by 3.1pct while Brent lost 1.8pct.

Base metal prices eased modestly in watchful trade on the London Metal Exchange on Friday. Aluminium lost 1.6pct, but other metals eased up to 0.5pct. Over the week metals generally slumped between 7.0-10.0pct but aluminium lost only 2.2pct. The gold price rose on Friday as investors sought safe-haven assets after the earthquake. The Comex gold futures price rose by US$9.30 an ounce to US$1,421.80. Gold fell by US$6.80 an ounce or 0.5pct over the week.

Ahead: In Australia, credit and debit card data is due. There are holidays in Victoria, ACT and Tasmania. In the US, no major economic data is scheduled.

More from IBT Markets:
Newsletter: To receive Global Markets update, sign up here