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 Asian and European markets were roiled this week by Fed minutes
suggesting the U.S. central bank will start reducing its $85 billion
of monthly bond purchases in coming months.
The super-easy monetary has kept interest rates low to support
economic recovery in the U.S. but also propelled money into higher
yielding stocks. Frequent shifts in expectations about when the
stimulus will be withdrawn have sparked gyrations in markets.
Stan Shamu, market strategist at IG in Melbourne, Australia said the
"buoyant" performance of U.S. markets encouraged investors back into
stocks even as the Fed guessing game remains on the radar.
In Europe, France's CAC 40 rose 0.6 percent to close at 4,278.53
while Germany's DAX gained 0.3 percent to 9,219.04. Britain's FTSE
100 edged down 0.1 percent to 6,674.30.
On Wall Street, with the S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent and the Dow 0.1
percent, putting it on track to close at a record high above 16,000
for the second day running.
Since the start of the year, the Dow blue chip index is up 22
percent, propelled higher by a combination of solid corporate
earnings, a steadily strengthening economy and the Fed's monetary
policy. If it holds onto those gains, it will have its best year
since 2003. The Dow topped 14,000 in February and 15,000 in May.
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In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average rose 0.1 percent to
15,381.72 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.5 percent to 23,696.28.
Seoul's Kospi gained 0.6 percent to 2,006.23. Australia's S&P/ASX
200 jumped 0.9 percent to 5,335.90.
In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude for January delivery was
down 81 cents at $94.64 a barrel in electronic trading on the New
York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained $1.59 to close at
$95.44 on Thursday after the U.S. government said monthly
unemployment claims fell in a sign of an improving job market.
The euro rose 0.5 percent to $1.3549 while the dollar was little
changed at 101.25 yen.
[Associated
Press]
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