Stocks rallied overnight after the Australian economy showed more than expected second quarter growth and China’s PMI was reported stronger than estimated. Both reports triggered a surge in demand for higher risk assets overnight which led to the sharp rise in equities.

An improved outlook for earnings helped boost U.S. equity futures following sluggish overnight session. U.S. stock index futures turned higher shortly before the opening after trading lower overnight because of fear about a slow down in the global economy.

The Euro rallied on Friday after Bloomberg reported that Germany may buy Greek bonds. Shorts read this as a potential vote of confidence for Greece and used the news as an excuse to cover positions. The strong rally put the EUR USD in a position to turn the main trend to up on a rally through the last main top at 1.3692.

The U.S. Dollar is trading higher against a basket of currencies as traders seem to have taken risk out of the equation. Earlier in the week, China announced measures to tighten up bank lending requirements. This is raising concerns that China’s economy may slowdown, thus decreasing demand for commodities and other higher risk assets.