Sawt Falasteen - Markets mixed ahead of key US employment report

European indices climbed along with Wall Street, where stocks shook off early weakness and finished higher. Asian markets were mixed.

"Growing recessionary concerns cast a pall over markets," said analyst Richard Hunter at trading firm Interactive Investor.

"A number of US releases suggested that the economy is beginning to wilt under the pressure of the Federal Reserve's aggressive (interest rate) hiking policy, with attention now turning to the scale of a recession, rather than whether one will happen," he said.

On Friday, investors' focus will turn to the release of key US employment figures.

Fresh US government unemployment data on Thursday showed that there were 228,000 new applications for unemployment aid last week, above analyst expectations.

And Friday's jobs figures could be crucial to determining the Fed's next interest rate decision.

All three major European markets and Hong Kong will be shut on Friday and Monday for a four-day Easter holiday weekend.

Wall Street will be closed on Friday but open on Monday, with Tokyo, Shanghai and Shenzhen working on both days.

"The closure... on Friday means that equity traders will be unable to react to the release until next week which, coupled with the long weekend, has seen some traders squaring positions and being unwilling to open new ones given the extended break," Hunter added.

Economic institutes earlier said that Germany would escape recession this year after all and grow 0.3 percent, while fresh data on Thursday showed industrial production rose more than expected in Europe's biggest economy in February.

But US data this week has been mostly weak.

On Wednesday, a report from the Institute for Supply Management showed that US services sector activity grew less than forecast last month, while a separate report pointed to private employers slowing their hiring pace in March.

While traders have long hoped for a tightening of the labor market and an economic slowdown that would allow the Fed to stop lifting rates, there is now rising concern of a recession.

International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva said Thursday that a continued slowdown in almost all the world's advanced economies is expected to drag global growth below three percent this year.

- Key figures around 2030 GMT -

New York - Dow: FLAT at 33,485.29 (close)

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.4 percent at 4,105.02 (close)

New York - Nasdaq: UP 0.8 percent at 12,087.96 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 1.0 percent at 7,741,56 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.1 percent at 7,324.75 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.5 percent at 15,597.89 (close)

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.3 percent at 4,309.45 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.2 percent at 27,472.63 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.3 percent at 20,331.20 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: FLAT at 3,312.63 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0923 from $1.0904 on Wednesday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2441 from $1.2462

Euro/pound: UP at 87.77 pence at 87.50 pence

Dollar/yen: UP at 131.80 yen from 131.32 yen

Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.2 percent at $85.12 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.1 percenat at $80.70 per barrel

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G.AbuGhazaleh--SF-PST