Sawt Falasteen - Stock markets rise amid geopolitical unrest

The dollar steadied ahead of US inflation figures Wednesday that are set to play a part in guiding Federal Reserve decision-making on rates for the rest of the year.

Tokyo's stock market ended at an all-time high, as did Seoul where South Korean traders were hopeful the government will not implement plans to lower the capital gains tax threshold for stocks.

Wall Street indices had rocketed to fresh highs Tuesday as markets digested weak US jobs data that added to expectations of lower American borrowing costs.

In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 gained in early afternoon trading as France welcomed a new prime minister.

President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday appointed Sebastien Lecornu as prime minister, one day after his predecessor Francois Bayrou lost a confidence vote in parliament over planned austerity measures to reduce France's debt.

"The failure of... (the) austerity push signals that compromise will be needed, but for now, investors are focusing on the near-term boost to sentiment rather than the longer-term fiscal risks," noted Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB trading group, said "financial markets are once again defying gravity as we move through September, which is seasonally a weak month for stocks".

Wall Street's "S&P 500 hit a record on Tuesday and brushed off concerns about an Israeli attack on Qatar", she added.

Traders appeared also to look past Russia's overnight violation of Polish airspace.

Gains for oil prices were relatively modest, while gas futures were unmoved after Israel's strikes Tuesday against Hamas in gas-rich Qatar.

Gold, a traditional safe haven investment, traded close to its recent record highs.

Elsewhere, Jakarta's stock market clawed back a large part of Tuesday's heavy losses that came after President Prabowo Subianto removed finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati following deadly anti-government protests.

While London was up overall, gains were capped slightly by a 10-percent plunge in the share price of Primark owner ABF following a poorly-received trading update regarding its clothing and food businesses.

- Key figures at around 1045 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.4 percent at 9,280.75 points

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.5 percent at 7,791.46

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.2 percent at 23,774.00

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.9 percent at 43,837.67 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.0 percent at 26,200.26 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 3,812.22 (close)

New York - Dow: UP 0.4 percent at 45,711.34 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1700 from $1.1707 on Tuesday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3538 from $1.3527

Dollar/yen: UP at 147.46 from 147.42 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.44 pence from 86.57 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.8 percent at $66.94 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.9 percent at $63.17 per barrel

Y.Shaath--SF-PST