Sawt Falasteen - Eurozone stocks lift as French political stand-off eases

Wall Street ended lower Wednesday as traders booked profits ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Official data Wednesday showed that US inflation edged up but remained in line with forecasts -- cementing expectations that the Federal Reserve will still cut interest rates in December but have fewer reductions than thought next year.

The dollar gained versus main rivals Thursday.

In Europe, the Paris stock market rose 0.6 percent in midday deals.

France's finance minister Antoine Armand said the country's government was ready to offer concessions to parliament to pass its budget amid a standoff that has caused market turbulence and risks bringing down the government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier.

Germany's stock market rebounded 0.7 percent. Outside the eurozone, London edged higher for a second session running.

European stock markets recovered from the previous day's losses caused also by concerns that Europe could be the next target for tariffs by US president-elect Donald Trump.

European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde said Thursday that the European Union must cooperate with Trump to avoid a trade war.

"This is a better scenario than a pure retaliation strategy, which can lead to a tit-for-tat process where no one is really a winner," she said in an interview with The Financial Times.

Rising tariff fears have weighed on Asian markets after Trump flagged they would target China and appointed several hawks to his cabinet.

Hong Kong and Shanghai retreated as Bloomberg reported that Washington was considering escalating its crackdown on tech supplies to China by putting fresh sanctions on sales of semiconductor equipment and AI chips to the country.

But the reported measures would stop short of stricter action that had been expected.

Oil prices rose as the OPEC+ alliance postponed a weekend meeting to December 5 in what analysts said were signs of disagreement among the group over plans to increase output.

The 22-member OPEC+ group led by Saudi Arabia and Russia was due to decide on its 2025 output policy at a ministerial meeting originally scheduled for Sunday.

In the crypto sphere, bitcoin was hovering around $96,500, having bounced back from just below $90,300 earlier in the week following its worst run since Trump's electoral success.

Still, it is widely tipped to top $100,000 on expectations the new president will ease restrictions on the digital currency market.

- Key figures around 1130 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 8,279.12

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.6 percent at 7,182.15

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.7 percent at 19,391.69

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.6 percent at 38,349.06 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.2 percent at 19,366.96 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.4 percent at 3,295.70 (close)

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.3 percent at 44,722.06 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0554 from $1.0565 on Wednesday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2666 from $1.2678

Dollar/yen: UP at 151.78 yen from 151.17 yen

Euro/pound: FLAT at 83.33 pence

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.7 percent at $72.78 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.6 percent at $69.10 per barrel

J.Saleh--SF-PST