The sharp interest rate hikes of the past two years will likely take longer than previously expected to bring down inflation, several Federal Reserve officials have said in recent comments, suggesting there may be few, if any, rate cuts this year.

A major concern expressed by both Fed policymakers and some economists is that higher borrowing costs aren't having as much of an impact as economics textbooks would suggest. Americans as a whole, for example, aren't spending much more of their incomes on interest payments than they were a few years ago, according to government data, despite the Fed's sharp rate increases. That means higher rates may not be doing much to limit many Americans' spending, or cool inflation.

The United States added 37 Chinese entities to a trade blacklist Thursday, including some companies accused of supporting a suspected spy balloon that flew over U.S. soil last year.

The Commerce Department said it also took aim at those that sought to acquire US goods to advance China's quantum technology capabilities.

The British economy bounced back strongly in the first three months of the year, bringing to an end to what economists termed a "technical recession", official figures showed Friday.

The Office for National Statistics said the economy grew by 0.6% in the first quarter from the previous three-month period, with broad-based strength across the crucial services sector in particular.

Global shares traded higher Friday after a rally on Wall Street that pulled the S&P 500 back within 1% of its record.

In London, the FTSE 100 rose 0.8% to 8,448.34 as the government reported that the British economy bounced back strongly in the first three months of the year, bringing to an end to what economists termed a "technical recession."

China is actively seeking foreign investment to boost its slowing growth, but that very sluggishness is weighing on company plans to expand their businesses in the world's second largest economy, an annual survey of more than 500 European companies found.

The slowing economy is now the dominant concern of respondents to the European Chamber of Commerce in China survey, which was released Friday. China still ranks high as a place to invest, but the share of companies considering an expansion of their operations in the country this year fell to 42%, the lowest ever recorded.