European stock exchanges will be closed on Friday and Monday for the extended Easter weekend. They will reopen on Tuesday, April 7.
  

Dassault Aviation announced that its family holding company and its two main executives had committed to retaining a block of the group's shares for two years under the Dutreil tax scheme for inheritances. These commitments were made on March 11 by the holding GIMD (Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault), CEO Eric Trappier, and Deputy CEO Loïk Segalen, the aircraft manufacturer stated in a press release.  

High-tech sensor manufacturer for defense and nuclear applications Exosens announced Thursday evening that it had received a record order for digital imaging solutions for interceptor drones from a major European player in autonomous air defense systems. Neither the client's name nor the value of this order has been disclosed.

Stainless steel producer Aperam, for its part, confirmed Thursday evening that it anticipates an increase in its adjusted Ebitda in the first quarter of 2026 relative to the fourth quarter of 2025, when it amounted to 67 million euros. Aperam specified that the Ebitda consensus it compiled stood at 89 million euros.  

Electrical and mechanical engineering specialist Spie announced that it had signed an agreement for the acquisition of the Czech company Block. The transaction amount was not disclosed.
  

Despite a receding prospect of peace in Iran, which led to a new surge in oil prices, the New York Stock Exchange closed near equilibrium on Thursday. After a sharp decline at the open, the Dow Jones index fell 0.1% to 46,504.67 points, and the S&P 500 rose 0.1% to 6,582.69 points. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.2% to 21,879.18 points.

While the three indices had started the session with a significant decline, the market stabilized in response to reports from Iranian state media that Tehran is working on an agreement with several Middle Eastern countries to frame a resumption of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

US financial markets will be closed for Good Friday and will reopen on Monday.  
  

On Friday, the Labor Department will release its monthly non-farm employment statistics for the United States. Economists expect 59,000 net jobs to be created in March, after the destruction of 92,000 positions in February. They forecast a stable unemployment rate of 4.4%.
In Asia, the Nikkei index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 1.4% late Friday, while the Shanghai Composite index fell 1%. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange is closed on Friday.
RatingDog's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for China's services sector declined to 52.1 in March, after reaching a 33-month high of 56.7 in February. Despite this decline, the index has remained above the 50-point threshold, which separates expansion from contraction in activity, for over three years.
  

The greenback was unchanged against the Japanese currency, at 159.61 yen. Around 8:10 AM, the euro was stable at 1.1539 dollars.
  

The May contract for light sweet crude (WTI) traded on Nymex soared 11.9% to 112.06 dollars per barrel.

On Thursday, the June contract for North Sea Brent crude traded in London ended the session up 8% at 109.24 dollars per barrel.