NEW YORK, March 19 (APP/AFP): World stocks mostly ticked up Friday as
global investors continued to digest the US Federal Reserve’s lowered path for future interest rate increases.
US stocks rose for a third straight day, with the S&P 500 entering
positive territory for the year following a 0.4 percent gain to 2,049.58.
European stocks were also stronger, with Paris gaining 0.4 percent
and Frankfurt 0.6 percent. Both markets had lost ground on Thursday,
with a spiking euro hitting shares of European exporters.
But the euro reversed course Friday following remarks by European
Central Bank economist Peter Praet, who told Italian newspaper La Republicca that the Frankfurt-based central bank could cut interest rates further.
“If new negative shocks should worsen the outlook, or if financing
conditions should not adjust in the direction and to the extent that is
necessary to boost the economy and inflation, a rate reduction remains in our armoury,” Praet said.
Analysts said the remarks reflected increased alarm as the single
currency has surged in the wake of the Fed meeting.
“With the euro near multi-month highs, ECB policymakers are likely
growing increasingly unhappy about the single currency’s strength and the negative impact it is likely to have on inflation and growth in the euro zone,” said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange.
The Nikkei in Tokyo finished 1.3 percent lower as the yen pushed towards levels not seen since late 2014, with the prospect of low US returns and dim global growth making the safe-haven Japanese unit more attractive.