Sawt Falasteen - Stocks hold up as eurozone economy ekes out growth

After retreating earlier in the day, London and Frankfurt bourses changed direction by mid afternoon but Paris was still in the red.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was marginally lower after opening but soon turned higher, after the US Federal Reserve's favoured measure of inflation slowed substantially last month.

The move will provide relief to the US central bank as it mulls another interest-rate hike next week to tackle rising prices.

"Today's PCE (personal consumption expenditures price index) data was pretty much as expected but is trending in a good direction for those hoping for inflation to moderate," analysts for Charles Schwab said in a note.

The United States on Thursday revealed that the economy had slowed more than expected in the first quarter.

That preceded figures Friday that showed the eurozone economy had lumbered forward in the first three months of the year -- expanding just 0.1 percent over the previous quarter as high inflation and interest rates weigh on activity.

Germany, the EU's biggest economy, saw growth stagnate at zero percent over the previous quarter.

Focus is turning to the Fed's monetary policy meeting next week. The market expects the US central bank to consider strong consumer spending and a drop in weekly jobless claims as evidence that the economy can take more inflation-fighting interest rate hikes.

The European Central Bank also decides on rates next week.

On Friday, the International Monetary Fund's department director for Europe, Alfred Kammer, urged the continent's central banks to "kill the beast" of inflation by continuing to hike interest rates.

The Bank of England has ramped up its own borrowing costs since the end of 2021, while markets fear that carrying on down a path of monetary tightening could tip the world economy into recession.

"The very small increase in (eurozone) GDP... means a technical recession has been avoided by a whisker," noted Capital Economics' chief Europe economist Andrew Kenningham.

"However, the economy has essentially stalled as domestic demand has been hit hard by the energy shock followed by monetary tightening."

On the corporate front Friday, US oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron reported another quarter of higher profits.

Strong refining results offset the effect of lower crude prices in the first quarter compared with the year-ago period, lifting profits.

Asian equity indices closed higher after strong gains Thursday on Wall Street as largely well-received earnings from US tech giants this week helped to offset global recession fears.

- Key figures around 1345 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 7,847.46 points

Frankfurt - DAX 40: UP 0.3 percent at 15,845.53

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.4 percent at 7,452.64

EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.5 percent at 4,334.84

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.1 percent at 33,785.96

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.3 percent at 19,894.57 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.1 percent at 3,323.27 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.4 percent at 28,856.44 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0996 from $1.1033 on Thursday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2499 from $1.2498

Dollar/yen: UP at 136.17 yen from 134.02 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 88.00 pence from 88.24 pence

Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.7 percent at $78.75 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.5 percent at $75.11 per barrel

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