By Gina Lee

Investing.com – Asia Pacific stocks were mostly up on Friday morning. U.S. equity options fell as a result of post-earnings declines in Amazon.com Inc.(NASDAQ:), and Apple Inc.

China’s gained 0.47% by 10:12 PM ET (2:12 AM GMT) while the was up 0.27%. In the next week, the Caixin index and purchasing manager indexes (PMIs) will be released.

Hong Kong’s was down 0.30%.

South Korea’s rose 0.86% and in Australia, the gained 0.78%. In the first quarter 2022, the Australian producer price index increased by 4.9% and 1.6% respectively.

Japanese markets will be closed on holidays.

After Amazon’s slow sales growth forecast, and the resulting contract losses, the and fell more than 1%. Amazon shares tumbled 9% in extended trading and Apple’s fell 2%, eclipsing the S&P 500’s best climb since early March 2022 in regular hours.

Meanwhile, the yen slowly clawed back its losses after tumbling past 130 per dollar to 20-year lows, and the yuan weakened at a pace comparable to China’s shock 2015 devaluation. The dollar dropped, but it is now on track for the best week since 2021. However, there are still concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve may raise interest rates aggressively.

In commodities, oil remained near the $105 mark, as investors evaluate the possibility of a European Union ban on Russian crude due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. Concerns about the war in Ukraine, China’s latest COVID-19 outbreaks, and tighter U.S. monetary policy all continue to contribute to market volatility.

“The Fed’s record on soft landings is not that strong,” BMO Family Office LLC deputy chief investment officer Carol Schleif told Bloomberg.

“Markets are watching very, very carefully to see if we can thread that needle.”

On Thursday, U.S. reported that it contracted unexpectedly 1.4% quarter-on quarter in its first quarter 2022. This is the first such contraction since 2020.

Also, the GDP number highlighted the ongoing debate about how tightening monetary policy can be without affecting economic growth. Investors now await the Fed’s latest policy decision, which will be handed down during the following week.

U.S. Treasuries held steady Thursday. The benchmark U.S. 10-year yield was at 2.82%, while Treasury futures were increasing. Japan holiday means that there will be no cash trade.

“A year from now, 10-year yields are most likely going to be lower than where we are today,” Rockefeller Financial LLC chief investment officer Jimmy Chang told Bloomberg, in reference to Treasuries.

“I do believe at some point when the economy starts to weaken, the Fed will be less hawkish, perhaps even go into a pause mode by, say, early 2023.”