The US dollar held steadily against most of its rivals on Friday, after the release of better-than-expected economic data.

Data showed today that the US retail sales rose 0.7% in September, while analysts forecast a drop by 0.2%, and the core retail sales reading rose 0.8%, beating forecasts of 0.5%.

The season of the US companies quarterly earnings results continues, as some major banks reported higher profits and revenues than expected in the third quarter, which points out the ongoing economic recovery from the pandemic.

The Federal Reserve meeting minutes showed that the central bank's members discussed a plan to reduce asset purchases by $15 billion per month.

The dollar index held against a basket of major currencies at 93.9 points as of 18:46 GMT, after hitting a high of 94.07 points and a low of 93.8 points.

US stock indices opened higher on Friday, extending gains, as Dow Jones resumed its climb above 35,000 points.

Data showed today that the US retail sales rose 0.7% in September, while analysts forecast a drop by 0.2%, and the core retail sales reading rose 0.8%, beating forecasts of 0.5%.

The season of the US companies quarterly earnings results continues, as some major banks reported higher profits and revenues than expected in the third quarter, which points out the ongoing economic recovery from the pandemic.

As for stocks, Dow Jones rose 0.7% or 250 points to 35,162 as of 14:29 GMT, and S&P 500 rose 0.5% or 21 points to 4,459, while Nasdaq rose 0.2% or 28 points to 14,851.

Nickel prices rose on Friday, as the US dollar rose against most major currencies, thanks to the strong global demand for metals and supply shortage.

Commodities and metals rise led to an increase in inflation in several economies, which led their central banks to hint at reducing the pandemic's quantitative easing programs and asset-buying.

Palladium, nickel and platinum have link with the auto industry, and the latter is suffering from a shortage of electronic chips, but optimism is growing in the industry, after many companies started to work on the shortage of chips.

The dollar index held against a basket of major currencies at 93.9 points as of 13:41 GMT, after hitting a high of 94.07 points and a low of 93.8 points.

Nickel spot prices rose 2.4% to $19,689.6 per ton as of 13:54 GMT.

Oil prices continued to rise as the US market opened on Friday, for the third day in a row, as US crude jumped to its 7-year peak, and Brent crude rose to its 3-year high, due to concerns over supply shortages while demand accelerates, especially due to the global shifting from gas to oil, which offset the impact of the US crude inventories build.

US crude rose 1.1% to the highest since September 2014 at $82.28 a barrel, after opening at $81.45, and hit a low at $81.40, and Brent crude rose more than 0.9% to the highest since October 2018 at $85.08 a barrel, after opening at $84.28, and hit a low at $84.18.

The US crude gained 1.1% yesterday, and Brent rose 0.9%, in the second straight daily gain, especially due to a record rise in natural gas prices.

Oil prices gained 2.5% so far this week, to head for the eighth straight weekly gain, in the largest weekly gains streak since March 2015.

Oil prices are rising due to growing fears over a market deficit, especially after OPEC Plus alliance's recent decision to keep its current production policy without any new production hikes.

Meanwhile, global demand for oil is growing, especially due to the global shifting from gas to oil, after the recent record spike in natural gas prices.

The US Energy Information Administration reported yesterday that the crude inventories rose 6.1 million barrels to 427 million barrels during the week ending October 8, which is the highest level since the week ending August 2020, while analysts forecast a rise by 1.1 million barrels.

While the US output rose 100,000 barrels last week, with the total at 11.4 million barrels per day, which is the highest level since the week ending August 27.