European stocks firm as ECB's Draghi sounds fairly rosy tone
LONDON (AP) - European stock markets rose strongly Thursday as European Central Bank President Mario Draghi sounded a fairly positive tone about the 19-country eurozone. Once his press briefing is over, the focus in the markets will turn to Friday's U.S. jobs data.
KEEPING SCORE: In Europe, France's CAC-40 rose 0.9 percent to 4,966 while Germany's DAX climbed 1 percent to 11,512. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.5 percent to 6,955. U.S. stocks were poised to open slightly higher, with Dow futures and the broader S&P 500 futures up 0.2 percent.
DRAGHI UPDATE: In his press briefing following the ECB's decision to keep interest rates at record lows, Draghi said the central bank has upgraded its growth forecast for the eurozone in 2015 to 1.5 percent from 1.0 percent. He noted an improvement in the business and consumer confidence. Draghi also said the bank's planned 1 trillion-euro ($1.11 trillion) stimulus program will start on March 9. The stimulus is designed to keep long-term interest rates in the markets low to spur growth and get inflation back toward target. The euro rallied slightly in the immediate aftermath of his comments, but soon drifted back to $1.11043 and near 11-year lows.
US PAYROLLS LOOMING: When Draghi completes his press conference, the focus will well and truly be on Friday's release of February's U.S. nonfarm payrolls figures. If they are particularly strong, it may prompt speculation that the Federal Reserve will start raising interest rates in June. If not, then it may stoke speculation that Fed policymakers will wait until the autumn or even beyond.
CHINA TARGET: Earlier in Asia, Chinese markets fell after the communist leaders in China, the world's second-biggest economy, lowered their growth forecast to about 7 percent, down from 7.5 percent last year. The new official benchmark comes after China's economy expanded 7.4 percent in 2014, its slowest pace in nearly a quarter century.
ASIA'S DAY: Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.1 percent to 24,193.04 and the Shanghai Composite Index in mainland China lost 1 percent to 3,248.48. The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia, where commodity producers are highly dependent on Chinese demand, spent most of the day in the red and ended practically unchanged at 5,904.20. Indexes in Singapore, Taiwan and New Zealand also dropped. Other major Asian benchmarks had anemic gains, with Japan's Nikkei 225 up 0.3 percent to 18,751.84. South Korea's Kospi ended flat 1,998.38
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude rose 14 cents to $51.67 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international benchmark, was up 34 cents at $60.90 in London.