SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of – Global stocks and oil prices were higher Friday as investors monitored OPEC’s discussion on increasing crude production. Caution remained, however, over trade disputes between China and the U.S. as well as between the U.S. and Europe that could hurt corporate profits and jobs.

KEEPING SCORE: Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 1 per cent to 7,630 and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.9 per cent to 5,361. Germany’s DAX gained 0.4 per cent to 12,561. Futures augured gains on Wall Street. S&P and Dow futures both advanced 0.4 per cent.

OIL: Prices of oil rose as OPEC met Friday to consider increasing their output by 1 million barrels a day. There is disagreement within OPEC about the scale of the increase, suggesting supply could remain ample. Benchmark U.S. crude gained $1.02 to $66.56 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard for oil prices, rose $1.51 to $74.56 per barrel in London.

TRADE TENSIONS: The U.S. is to begin taxing $34 billion in Chinese goods in two weeks while Beijing has vowed to retaliate with its own tariffs on U.S. soybeans and other farm products. The European Union is putting tariffs on $3.4 billion in American products as of Friday in response to the U.S. move to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum from around the globe. Brexit is also worrying companies, with planemaker Airbus warning that it could reconsider it place in Britain, where it employes 14,000, if the country does not soon reach a deal to clarify its trade relations with the EU.

ASIA’S DAY: Some Asian markets gained following heavy losses on previous days but finished lower than a week ago. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index edged up 0.2 per cent to 29,338.70 while Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 0.8 per cent to 22,516.83. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.5 per cent to 2,889.76 but remained more than 5 per cent below the start of the week. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.8 per cent to 2,357.22 but finished the week nearly 3 per cent lower. Australia’s S&P-ASX 200 inched down 0.1 per cent to 6,225.20. Stocks in Taiwan, Singapore and Southeast Asian countries were lower.

ANALYST’S TAKE: “Heightened global trade tensions remain a theme going into the end of the week,” said Jingyi Pan, a market strategist at IG.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 110.16 yen from 109.99 yen while the euro strengthened to $1.1650 from 1.1600.