Global markets: US, European stocks rise; investors eye jobs data
US stocks pared early losses and closed slightly higher on Thursday on the eve of Good Friday.
The S&P 500 edged higher 0.36% at 4,104.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.01% at 33,486.18. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.76% at 12,087.96.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were boosted by rise in Alphabet shares.
Alphabet’s Google plans to add artificial intelligence (AI) features to its search engine, a report by the Wall Street Journal said.
Investors are awaiting key US jobs data due on Friday for more clues on the Federal Reserve’s next monetary policy.
Fresh US jobless data on Thursday showed that initial jobless claims fell to 228,000 for the week ended April 1.
IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said on Thursday that a continued slowdown in almost all the world’s advanced economies is expected to drag global growth below 3% this year.
Wall Street will be shut on Friday on account of Good Friday.
The yield on 10-year treasury fell to 3.29% from 3.31% on Wednesday. The yield on 2-year treasury slipped to 3.81% from more than 5% last month.
European equities
European equities surged on Thursday, led by real estate and travel stocks. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.5%.
Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 1% at 7,741,56. France’s CAC 40 added 0.1% at 7,324.75. In Germany, DAX rose 0.5% at 15,597.89.
Markets in Europe will be closed on Friday and Monday on account of Good Friday and Easter holidays.
Asian markets
Asian stock markets were mostly lower on Thursday. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.38% lower.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.3% at 20,331.20. In China, Shanghai Composite index ended flat. South Korea’s Kospi declined 1.44% at 2,459.23.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.2% at 27,472.63.
Australian shares on Thursday snapped an eight-day winning streak, with the S&P/ASX 200 index falling 0.3% to close at 7,219.0. In New Zealand, the benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index closed flat at 11,870.08.
Oil prices Crude oil prices were little changed on Thursday. Brent crude ended up 13 cents, or 0.2%, at $85.12 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate US crude rose 9 cents, or 0.1%, at $80.70.
Bullion
Gold prices dropped on Thursday. Gold for June delivery fell $9.20 to $2,026.40 an ounce. Silver for May delivery rose 5 cents to $25.09 an ounce.
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