Investors have entered the third quarter deeply divided about what should be happening on financial markets.

Signs of a recovery in the euro zone's dominant services economy took a backwards step in June but business optimism hit a near two-year high on hopes that the worst is over, surveys showed on Friday.

Global stocks were mixed Friday as investors sought refuge after worse-than-expected U.S. jobs data. Trade was also thin due to the U.S. celebrating the long Independence Day weekend. Experts tell CNBC trade will be thin throughout the summer and now could be time to avoid volatility.

Global stocks were mixed on Friday after Wall Street's overnight selloff as the U.S. June jobs report came in worse than expected, reviving fears that the global economy is far from recovering. Experts tell CNBC how to invest under the threat of inflation.

The dollar dipped against the euro on Friday, reversing some of its sharp gains the previous session following weak U.S. jobs data which dampened hopes that the global economy is poised to recover.

Oil dropped a dollar to below $66 a barrel on Friday after unemployment data hardened views economic weakness would sap energy demand and that last month's rally was overdone.

The European Central Bank left its main refinancing interest rate unchanged at a record low of 1.0 percent, as expected. The program to buy covered bonds will go ahead as planned, president Jean-Claude Trichet said.

Crisis-stricken Ireland's debt rating has been downgraded by Moody's amid mounting worries about the country's public finances and the cost of the government's bailout of the banking system.

Foreign banks will be able to buy or borrow yuan from Chinese mainland lenders for the first time to settle trade in Hong Kong and Macau under a pilot scheme steered by the central bank.

Euro zone unemployment crept up to its highest level in 10 years in May, data showed on Thursday, casting a shadow on prospects for any quick recovery from the worst economic recession since World War Two.

Global stocks were lower on Thursday ahead of the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for June and the European Central Bank's rate and policy decisions. Experts tell CNBC to expect a small pullback in the short term.

The European Central Bank is expected to keep euro zone interest rates unchanged on Thursday, say it sees faint signs of economic recovery, and fill in some of the missing details of its unorthodox plan to buy bonds.

Swelling gasoline stockpiles and a far bigger than expected rise in U.S. unemployment drove oil markets down more than $2 to settle below $67 a barrel Thursday.

China hopes for diversification of the international currency system in the future, and it would be "normal" for the issue to be raised for discussion at next week's Group of Eight summit, Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei said.

The dollar rose versus the euro and fell against the yen Thursday as a report showing a larger-than-expected drop in U.S. non-farm payrolls in June, renewed concerns about the economic recovery's pace.