Reuters

The European Central Bank’s ultra-easy monetary policy is working and the euro zone’s economic recovery has taken hold even if more time is needed to lift inflation to the bank’s 2 percent target, ECB President Mario Draghi said on Friday.

The euro jumped more than 1 percent and yields on benchmark U.S. government debt remained at unattractive rates on Friday after the world’s two leading central bankers declined to discuss monetary policy in keynote speeches.

The dollar was mixed on Friday, as traders cleared the decks for speeches by Fed chief Janet Yellen and her euro zone counterpart Mario Draghi at a central bank meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Oil prices rose on Friday as the U.S. petroleum industry braced for Hurricane Harvey, which may become the biggest storm to hit the U.S. mainland in more than a decade.

Gold was steady on Friday, marking time ahead of speeches by U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi later in the day.

Hurricane Harvey intensified early on Friday into potentially the biggest hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland in more than a decade, as authorities warned locals to shelter from what could be life-threatening winds and floods.

The dollar was buoyant against the yen on Friday as some participants bought back the currency to square positions ahead of a meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Japan’s core consumer prices rose 0.5 percent in July from a year earlier to mark a seventh straight gaining month, a sign the economy is making steady but painfully slow progress toward meeting the central bank’s 2 percent inflation target.

Oil prices rose on Friday as the U.S. petroleum industry prepared for the arrival on the coast of Texas of Hurricane Harvey, which threatens to disrupt onshore and offshore production.

Asian stocks traded tentatively on Friday as U.S. political turmoil continued to erode risk sentiment, but the dollar strengthened as attention shifted to the central bankers’ symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, that began on Thursday.