World Stocks Rise amid Stimulus Speculation
World stock markets mostly rose Friday as oil prices advanced and investors hoped for more financial support for the global economy.
KEEPING SCORE: In Europe, with Britain's FTSE 100 climbed 0.8 percent to 6,185.54 and France's CAC 40 rose 1.1 percent to 4,291.27. Germany's DAX added 1.2 percent to 9,641.62. U.S. stocks were poised to open higher, with Dow and S&P 500 futures both up 0.5 percent.
CENTRAL BANKS: The Japanese yen's rise to its highest level in almost a year and a half threatens to undermine Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plan to revive Asia's second biggest economy through monetary easing and fiscal stimulus. As a result, analysts are starting to think the government may have to intervene if the yen falls further. On Thursday, the European Central Bank's president, Mario Draghi, had vowed to do "whatever is needed" to raise inflation in the eurozone and push up growth.
ANALYST TAKE: "We think the ECB will eventually have to put its reservations aside and take more action," wrote Roger Bootle and Jonathan Loynes of Capital Economics in a note to clients. The research analysis firm earlier said in a report that while they consider it unlikely that the Japanese government might intervene in currency markets, the Bank of Japan is under pressure to announce more stimulus "later this month"
ASIAN SCORECARD: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index erased earlier losses to finish 0.5 percent higher at 15,821.52. South Korea's Kospi dipped 0.1 percent to 1,972.05. Hong Kong's Hang Seng staged a last-ditch rally to finish in positive territory, up 0.5 percent to 20,370.40 while the Shanghai Composite Index in mainland China fell 0.7 percent to 2,984.96. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.5 percent to 4,937.60.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose $1.46 to $38.72 barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, supporting energy stocks. The contract fell 49 cents on Thursday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose $1.36 to $40.79 a barrel in London.
CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 108.51 yen after sinking as low as 107.70 in the previous day's trading, its weakest level since October 2014. In other foreign exchange trading, the euro rose to $1.1369 from $1.1376.
Source: Associated Press
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