The FTSEurofirst 300 rose 0.8% to 1,035.56 points. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.09%, to close at 10,396.76. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.04 %, to close at 1,118.79. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 0.11 points to close at 2,280.68.The benchmark Nikkei 31.30 points to close at 10,253.14, while the Topix gained 0.3% to close at 905.65.

Yesterday, Greece was forced to accept a debilitating level of interest on its bond issue of a €5bn (£4.5bn) bond. 24 hours after Greece announced new its new austerity measures, Petros Christodoulou the national debt management boss stated that the gilt sale was “going very well, beyond expectations”. Also according to CMA DataVision, the cost of insuring against a default by Athens fell to 304.8 basis points. On Thursday, after reviewing Dubai’s $22bn debt restructuring, Moody’s downgraded government groups in oil-rich Abu Dhabi. An announcement from China has shown a sharp slowdown in the growth of its official defence budget.

Due for release today is the GBP PPI Input m/m, the USD Non-Farm Employment Change and the USD Unemployment Rate.

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