Sources: ECB President Christine Lagarde asked Greece to block Binance's MiCA license in June at the last minute, aiming to protect the bank's "digital euro" (Angus Berwick/Wall Street Journal)

After a news-filled week, with the U.S. Federal Reserve raising interest rates for the first time since July 2023, investors on Wall Street showed mild optimism. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, composed of large-cap stocks, slipped slightly to 51,682 points. The S&P 500, a broad market index, remained virtually unchanged at 7,650 points.

The Nasdaq Composite, heavily weighted toward technology companies, rose 0.4% to 26,522. The Nasdaq 100, representing the 100 largest non-financial companies by market capitalization, closed 0.7% higher at 29,644 points. The previous day's rally contributed to the positive sentiment. Robust U.S. labor market data released on Thursday played a significant role.

The number of initial jobless claims in the week before September 12 fell to 196,000, considerably lower than the expected 207,500. Lukasz Skiba, a senior market specialist at Capital.com, noted that the surprisingly low U.S. jobless claims indicated a robust U.S. economy. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's statement that the U.S. economy is strong enough to combat inflation without significantly burdening the labor market alleviated concerns about higher interest rates potentially weakening consumer spending and corporate revenues.

Combined with falling oil prices and a recovery in the bond market, this gave a boost to U.S. stocks. Oil prices continued to decline, with Brent crude oil costing around $103.80 per barrel on Friday, a drop of nearly one percent from the previous day. Reports of alternative supply routes for Saudi Arabian oil exports helped alleviate concerns over the extent of supply disruptions caused by the war in Iran.