Sawt Falasteen - U.S. stock markets hover near record highs on positive earnings

European stocks, which have lagged their American counterparts in recent weeks, closed mostly higher.

The S&P 500 index yesterday closed just shy of 5,000 and Thursday it was again close to what would be a landmark record level.

"There has been more conviction that the market is due for a pullback led by the mega-cap stocks," said Briefing.com in a note. "Everyone is waiting for a break in the action, but clearly there are enough participants who have kept playing the momentum trade and are intent to stay with the trend until it is no longer a friend."

Strong corporate earnings were providing support to the market.

"There have been some notable outperformances from big oil, Disney, the tech giants and consumer discretionary like Uber," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB. "The earnings beat is widespread, which supports the rally in US stocks broadening beyond tech."

Shares in entertainment giant Disney were up 12 percent on Thursday, a day after it reported higher-than-expected quarterly profits and announced it was taking a small stake in Fortnite-maker Epic Games.

Nasdaq-listed chip-maker Arm Holdings soared 59 percent after its earnings report beat expectations.

The strong earnings are helping investors accept that the US Federal Reserve is unlikely to cut borrowing costs in March, as they had hoped.

More Fed officials signalled this week that they were in no hurry to reduce rates, which the central bank hiked to a two-decade high last year in its battle against inflation.

"It is becoming apparent that the US economy can function perfectly well with rates at an upper bound of 5.50%, with an expectation that this is the top," said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.

Attention to interest rates could return when the U.S. reports on closely watched inflation gauges Friday and again Tuesday.

European stock indices were mostly higher, playing catch-up with Wall Street. Paris, Frankfurt and Milan rose, while London was down.

"Sentiment remains positive as investors take encouragement to the fresh record highs being hit across Wall Street on an almost daily basis," said Trade Nation's Morrison.

Shares in French luxury giant Kering rose six percent despite a drop in annual sales and profit as the company refocuses its business around its top brand Gucci.

Shares in French bank Societe Generale initially rose after it reported that profits bounced back in 2023, though it later gave up those gains.

London's FTSE 100 index was pulled lower by British drugs group AstraZeneca, which slid six percent on concern over its outlook after posting bumper profits last year.

Shares of British American Tobacco rose seven percent despite reporting a 2023 loss as the company flagged the possible part-sale of its nearly 30-percent stake in Indian peer ITC.

Danish shipping giant Maersk's stock price tanked by 15 percent in Copenhagen after it logged a massive drop in net profit last year and warned that unrest in the Red Sea clouded its 2024 outlook.

Oil prices continued to rise on a mix of Middle East tensions and declining U.S. stocks of gasoline and distillate products. However, analysts said concerns about demand in China could keep a cap on prices.

- Key figures around 1630 GMT -

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 38,556.64 points

New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.1 percent at 4,989.27

New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 15,790.26

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.4 percent at 7,595.48 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.7 percent at 7,665.63 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.3 percent at 16,963.83 (close)

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.7 percent at 4,710.78 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 2.1 percent at 36,863.28 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.3 percent at 15,878.07 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.3 percent at 2,865.90 (close)

Dollar/yen: UP at 149.36 yen from 148.16 yen on Wednesday

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0764 from $1.0777

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2610 from $1.2628

Euro/pound: UP at 85.37 pence from 85.32 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 2.4 percent at $81.13 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.5 percent at $75.68 per barrel

burs-lth/gv/cw

N.Shalabi--SF-PST