Sawt Falasteen - US, European stocks rise despite hotter-than-expected producer prices

Paris struck an all-time peak above 8,200 points and Frankfurt reached a new summit past 18,000.

Bitcoin hit a fresh record high at $73,797 and oil reached its highest levels since November.

US retail sales bounced 0.6 percent last month, but that came after a steep slide in January, and taken together the numbers do not suggest an overly hot economy.

The rebound "will quiet some of the concerns about the January downturn, and help the market maintain its soft landing outlook," said Patrick O'Hare, an analyst at Briefing.com. "That seemingly bodes well for the earnings outlook."

Producer prices rose 0.6 percent in February, above market expectations of 0.3 percent, but much of the increase was due to gasoline costs.

All three major US stock indexes were slightly higher after their opening.

Thursday's economic reports come before the US Federal Reserve meets March 19-20, though most investors do not expect the central bank to change its stance until its June meeting.

US Steel shares fell three percent after President Joe Biden, as expected, said he opposed its sale to Japan's Nippon Steel. The shares are down around 16 percent this week.

In Europe, prices have been boosted as recent comments from the European Central Bank seem to be leading investors to also price in a rate cut in June.

"Listening to (President Christine) Lagarde and other ECB members, it sounds like a June cut is a done deal, unless a significant surprise occurs on the inflation front," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.

Hong Kong retreated for a second day after a recent rally, while Shanghai and Sydney were also lower.

Tokyo rose on a weaker yen, though traders are awaiting a Bank of Japan meeting next week as speculation swirls that policymakers may begin moving away from an ultra-loose monetary policy and raise interest rates for the first time since 2007 -- the opposite issue facing most Western economies.

Investors are keeping tabs on China-US tensions after the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bill that would force TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, to divest from the company or see the platform banned in the United States.

Former US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday said he is putting together a team of investors to buy TikTok.

China has warned a forced sale will "inevitably come back to bite the United States".

Oil prices ticked higher as the International Energy Agency forecast that demand would grow higher than expected.

"Oil investors are expecting strong demand from China while the ongoing supply cuts by the OPEC+ means there is the potential for a supply deficit." said Fawad Razaqzada, analyst at City Index.

- Key figures around 1340 GMT -

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.6 percent at 8,185.99

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 17,973.89

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.2 percent at 5,011.69

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 7,762.12 points

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 38,807.38 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.7 percent at 16,961.66 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,038.23 (close)

New York - Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 39,112.07 points

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.2 percent at 5,174.82 points

New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 16,232.27 points

Dollar/yen: UP at 147.84 yen from 147.78 yen on Wednesday

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0918 from $1.0952

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2779 from $1.2799

Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.46 pence from 85.54 pence

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.1 percent at $80.63 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.9 percent at $84.77 per barrel

N.Awad--SF-PST