Global Stocks

U.S. stocks closed at a record on Friday with the S&P 500 notching its best winning streak since June 2014 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average extending gains for a fifth week. "The S&P 500 is up more than 5% since election day [as the] outlook for lower regulatory hurdles, lower taxes, and higher infrastructure investments all paint the picture of a resurgence in growth prospects," said Karen Hiatt, a portfolio manager at Allianz Global Investors. "The euphoria surrounding higher cyclical growth after years of stagnation has driven investors to reposition portfolios for 2017 earlier than typical."

Asian stock market reaction to perceived policy easing by the European Central Bank was mostly positive, even as currencies in the region took a hit. The ECB said Thursday it would extend its bond-purchase program by nine months to December 2017, but cut its monthly purchases to 60 billion euros from €80 billion, as of April. The ECB action mixed tightening and loosening measures, but market chose to focus on the extension of the asset-purchase program, known as quantitative easing (QE).