ORLANDO, Florida, March 14 (Reuters) -

TRADING DAY

Making sense of the forces driving global markets

World markets on Friday ended another choppy week on an upbeat

note as investors pushed aside growing concerns over the global

trade war and bought back beaten down stocks, although few will

be confident a definitive market bottom has been reached yet.

U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff agenda is very much in

place, and markets remain vulnerable to the next escalation in

tensions. The lack of any new announcement from Trump on Friday

was, for investors, perhaps a classic case of 'no news is good

news'.

Another dose of good news on Friday came from Germany, where

Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz secured support from the

Greens to revise the country's debt brake and unleash the

biggest fiscal package since 1990, proposals that should deliver

a massive boost to German and European growth.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate looks set to pass a stopgap

spending bill and avert a partial government shutdown, lifting

another cloud hanging over markets.

But the broader horizon is filled with dark, ominous clouds,

indicated by some key market moves and economic data on Friday -

safe-haven demand propelled gold above $3,000 an ounce for the

first time, while U.S. consumer confidence fell to its lowest in

nearly two and a half years and longer-term inflation

expectations hit their highest since 1993.

This is also reflected in the latest fund flows data from

Bank of America ( BAC ) - the last week saw the biggest equity outflow

this year, and the biggest inflow into Treasuries since August.

Around $3 trillion was wiped off global equity market cap

this week, bringing total losses since the February 19 peak to

around $7 trillion. Most of that is from the U.S., which still

accounts for more than 70% of world market cap.

These are big numbers, but won't be bothering policymakers

too unduly just yet. A renewed wave of selling though, and that

calculus might start to change - investors will be scrutinizing

the Fed, Bank of Japan and Bank of England policy meetings next

week more closely than ever.

I'd love to hear from you, so please reach out to me with

comments at . You can also follow me at @ReutersJamie and

@reutersjamie.bsky.social.

[Latest Market Data segment]

This Week's Key Market Moves

* Gold breaks above $3,000 an ounce for the first time,

boosted

mostly by safe-haven demand but also Fed rate cut expectations.

Gold notches its 10th weekly rise from the last 11.

* World stocks have their worst week of the year, with the

MSCI

All Country index falling 2%. Friday's relief rally on Wall

Street, however, should bode well for Monday's open.

* The S&P 500 and Nasdaq have their best day of the year on

Friday, both leaping more than 2%. But both register their

fourth weekly declines in a row. Momentum still seems tilted to

the downside.

* U.S. 'Big Tech' dips into bear market territory, with the

Roundhill "Magnificent Seven" ETF falling more than 20% from its

December peak. Its rebound on Friday cuts weekly losses to 3%.

* U.S. high-yield credit spreads widen to 340 basis points,

the

widest in six months. It was the second biggest weekly move in

two years, but overall spread level is still low given the high

degree of macro and market uncertainty.

* Chinese stocks rise as much as 2.4% on Friday to new highs

for

the year on growing hopes Beijing will announce further measures

to boost consumption. Chinese equities are up 8% in the past two

months, S&P 500 is down 8% in the last month.

Chart of the Week

Bank of America's ( BAC ) weekly 'Flow Show' note on Friday included

a remarkable chart showing something we instinctively know to be

true, but still scarcely seems believable - the U.S. economy has

grown 50% in nominal terms since the pandemic low in 2020.

This is remarkable in itself, and helps explain why high

household, business and federal debt hasn't been the ticking

time-bomb many thought it would be when the Fed began raising

interest rates - as a share of GDP, borrowing has not grown much

at all, and in many cases, has fallen substantially.

What could move markets on Monday?

* China 'data dump' for February that includes: house

prices,

industrial production, investment, retail sales and

unemployment.

* China policymakers news conference on measures to boost

consumption

* India wholesale price inflation (February)

* U.S. retail sales (February)

Here are some of the best things I read this week:

1. Central banks slip into the shadows

2. Trump's confidence-sapping policies echo the

1930s

3. Tesla's stock defied gravity for years. Is Elon

Musk's

EV party over?

4. A stain on Britain: sewage contaminates its

waterways

and seas

5. As Trump thaws ties, Russia has a new public

enemy

number one: Britain

Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect

the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is

committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

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(Writing by Jamie McGeever; editing by Diane Craft)