Asia mixed; Crude above $108/bbl, Euro rises to 1.31/$

US markets ended mixed, largely unchanged in lackluster trading Friday, with the S&P 500 squeezing out a small gain to finish at another record high, but a batch of disappointing tech earnings weighed.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 4.80 points, or 0.03 percent, to finish at 15,543.74. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 2.72 points, or 0.16 percent, to close at 1,692.09. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 23.66 points, or 0.66 percent, at 3,587.61.

In Europe, markets end lower weighed by some weak earnings and as investors booked profits after recent market gains, but still finished higher for the fourth week. In the peripheral markets, it was only the Italian index that ended with gains.

Asian markets were trading mixed. Japan's Nikkei was flat to negative while Shanghai and Hang Seng fell 0.3 pecent each. Straits Times, Kospi and Taiwan Weighted gained 0.6 percent each.

The People's Bank of China announced its biggest step yet towards financial reform on Friday. The Chinese central bank scrapped controls on lending rates, which means banks are now free to set their own rates, with a few exceptions. However, banks are selling off this morning leading the shanghai index lower as this move is being seen as a negative for commercially driven banks in the long term.

Japan PM Abe's Ruling Party Bloc wins upper house elections. The victory was widely expected but Abe can now proceed with passing legislation smoothly, boosting hopes for economy recovery. The Japanese PM says that he will stay on course of economic, fiscal and monetary changes even after the election.

Other asset class

In the currency space, the euro rises to 1.31 to the dollar. The dollar index is below 82.50 mark. The dollar-yen is around 99.

In commodities, Brent crude trades above USD 108 a barrel. Nymex too is hovering around USD 108 a barrel.

From precious metals space, gold rises to a one-month high amid US stimulus hopes, above USD 1310 an ounce.