Sawt Falasteen - Rate cuts fail to spur European stocks

Wall Street shares were mixed at the open, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq retreating a day after topping 20,000 points for the first time.

The Paris CAC 40 was up 0.1 percent in afternoon deals but the Frankfurt DAX was flat after the European Central Bank (ECB) cut its interest rates by 25 basis points, marking its third consecutive reduction and fourth this year overall.

ECB President Christine Lagarde said policymakers discussed political "uncertainty" in Europe and the United States before deciding on the cut.

She mentioned "political situations in some of the member states" and the US presidential election won by Donald Trump.

Lagarde warned that the eurozone economy was "losing momentum" and that "the risk of greater friction in global trade could weigh on euro area growth".

Earlier, the Swiss National Bank surprised markets with a 50-basis-point reduction in its rate, citing slowing inflation and "uncertainty" over the impact of Trump's economic policies and Europe's political upheaval.

The franc fell against the dollar and the euro following the announcement.

With growth still weak and France and Germany in political crises there have been calls for the ECB to move faster.

Germany is heading towards early elections in February following the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition government as Europe's biggest economy falters.

In France, President Emmanuel Macron is due to appoint a new prime minister after MPs toppled the government of Michel Barnier last week.

Sylvain Broyer, an economist at S&P Global Ratings, said Europe was suffering from "a real crisis of confidence whose roots run deep and go beyond economic factors".

"The ECB must react and speed up the pace of rate cuts, unless low confidence derails the nascent recovery and jeopardizes the return to price stability," he said.

- US inflation -

Investors are also focused on the US Federal Reserve's own interest rate decision next week.

Consumer inflation data on Wednesday was in line with expectations as it inched slightly higher in November to 2.7 percent.

But figures on Thursday showed US wholesale inflation also ticked higher in November, which does not augur well for further rate cuts by the Fed.

There are also concerns that measures pledged by Trump to slash taxes and regulations and ramp up tariffs could reignite price increase.

Meanwhile, data showed first-time applications and continuing claims for unemployment benefits rose last week, indicating a softening jobs market.

In Asia, Hong Kong and Shanghai rallied amid hopes that leaders in China will unveil more help for the economy, which is struggling under the weight of weak consumer spending and a chronic property crisis.

President Xi Jinping and other key officials were reportedly holding their Central Economic Work Conference to hash out plans to boost growth next year.

Meanwhile, it emerged that economic officials in outgoing US President Joe Biden's administration would meet their Chinese counterparts for talks on Thursday in a final effort to strengthen ties before Trump returns.

Tokyo gained more than one percent on a weaker yen.

- Key figures around 1435 GMT -

New York - Dow: FLAT at 44,157.51 points

New York - S&P 500: 0.3 percent at 6,068.50

New York - Nasdaq Composite: 0.4 percent at 19,949.51

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 at 8,307.72

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.1 percent at 7,431.51

Frankfurt - DAX: FLAT percent at 20,399.68

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.2 percent at 39,849.14 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.2 percent at 20,397.05 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.9 percent at 3,461.50 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0513 from $1.0498 on Wednesday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2730 from $1.2752

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 152.25 yen from 152.40 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 82.59 from 82.31 pence

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.6 percent at $69.85 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.5 percent at $73.17 per barrel

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