■ ECB continues to signal dovish policy ahead as Fed prepares for Liftoff

■ USD appreciates on hawkish Fed; EUR/USD lowest since April

■ European stocks conclude positive week as DAX surges 3.2%, FTSE 100 +1%

■ U.S. stocks generally mixed, headed by the NASDAQ Composite (QQQ) with a 0.8% weekly gain

The recent week has on most cases been a good one for stock markets worldwide. Weekly changes have been somewhat moderate in the U.S., as the NASDAQ Composite increased by 0.8%, followed by the S&P 500 (SPY), which added 0.16% and the Dow Jones (DIA), which actually lost 0.2%. Things in Europe seemed a tad merrier as the FTSE 100 concluded the week adding 1% and the DAX surged by no less than 3.2%.

Equity markets benefitted from the usual barrage of relatively accommodative monetary remarks by central bankers.  Tuesday kicked off with some positive momentum following reports that ECB Executive Board Member Benoît Coeuré commented that the ECB would front-load the purchases in its quantitative easing program due to anticipated lack of liquidity during the summer. This quickly translated to noteworthy optimism for European equity, with the FTSE 100 opening Tuesday's session at a 0.5% increase. DAX investors, it seems, are really fond of the ECB's program, as the DAX opened Tuesday's session with close to a 2% gain. The Euro has depreciated somewhat on the news, with EUR/USD losing over a percentage point, to 1.1160.

Yellen seems determined to hike rates this year

According to the minutes from the Fed's April meeting, released on Wednesday, Gross Domestic Product "only edged up" in the first quarter, due to what was likely transitory factors. On the other hand, adding  somewhat of a dovish hue, it was also stated that many FOMC participants "thought it unlikely that the data available in June would provide sufficient confirmation that the conditions for raising the target range for the federal funds rate had been satisfied, although they generally did not rule out this possibility." The overall market reaction saw the minutes as more accommodative, though the rise in equity didn't survive until the end of the daily session…

The S&P 500 added about 0.35% between Monday's opening and the middle of Friday's session. This already moderate print was slashed towards the end of the daily session, as Fed governor Yellen delivered a few, pretty hawkish, remarks in a speech on U.S. economic outlook: In spite of seeing "headwinds", Governor Yellen said that the U.S. economy "seems well positioned for continued growth." Additionally, it was said that the Fed's policy should be forward, rather than backward looking, implying that the Fed May hike rates based on its own expectations, rather than recently slack U.S. data.

The Dollar received quite a significant boost following these remarks, with EUR/USD quickly dropping more than a percentage point and USD/JPY adding about 0.5%. Evidently, the Fed's hawkishness, relative to the dovish ECB resulted in quite an appreciation of the greenback during the week as a whole – EUR/USD concluded the week with a 3.8% decrease. At 1.1013 the currency pair is at its lowest since the end of April.