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Global stocks mixed as post-US rate cut euphoria falters
AFP - Thursday, December 18
LONDON (AFP) - - Global stock markets were mixed on Wednesday as investors gave a cautious welcome to a steep overnight cut in US interest rates and a sharp fall in oil prices.
Wall Street had soared on Tuesday, sparking some modest gains in Asian trade on Wednesday, as investors applauded a Federal Reserve decision to cut its key rate to near zero and its pledge of more steps to revive economic activity.
"A wave of cheer swept across Wall Street last night as the Fed sought to impress with an aggressive 75 basis point rate cut, reducing headline borrowing costs in the US to just 0.25 percent, but the upside has already proved to be short lived," said CMC Markets dealer Jimmy Yates.
In Europe, London's FTSE 100 index closed up 0.35 percent at 4,324.19 points but in Paris the CAC 40 ended 0.30 percent lower at 3,241.92 points, while the Frankfurt Dax shed 0.46 percent to close at 4,708.38 points.
European investors fretted over news that eurozone inflation tumbled to a 14-month low of 2.1 percent in November, with Frankfurt shares down 0.49 percent.
Howard Archer, an economist at the IHS Global Insight research consultancy, said that "a brief period of deflation certainly cannot be ruled out."
London eked out its small gain as the pound fell to a record low against the euro, which should help British exporters by making their products cheaper in the eurozone.
But there was gloomy news that the number of people claiming jobless benefits in Britain leapt in November by the biggest monthly amount for more than 17 years.
In Paris, the share price of BNP Paribas slumped 17.24 percent to 34 euros after the group revealed that its market trading activities had lost 710 million euros (1.0 billion dollars) in the first 11 months of the year.
US stocks pulled back Wednesday as investors refocused on severe economic problems a day after the huge rally driven by the Federal Reserve interest rate cut.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average pared earlier losses and was trading down 0.94 percent at 8,839.95 around 1652 GMT.
The tech-rich Nasdaq fell 1.03 percent to 1,573.55 and the Standard & Poor's 500 broad-market index retreated 1.02 percent to 903.91.
Stocks slid lower "as worries about the economy return and replace the euphoria that followed the Fed's rate decision and statement that it will use all available means to support growth," Charles Schwab & Co. analysts said.
Among stocks in focus, embattled banking giant Morgan Stanley dropped 1.24 percent to 15.93 after posting a 2.29 billion dollar net loss in its fiscal fourth quarter, far wider than market expectations.
In Asia on Wednesday, Tokyo won 0.52 percent, capping a rocky day after the drastic cut in US interest rates and a sharp spike in the yen.
The market opened higher, tracking overnight US gains, but the rate cut sent the dollar plunging to a 13-year low against the yen, raising concerns in Japan that the country's exports will become less competitive.
Hong Kong share prices jumped 2.2 percent, supported by gains of property stocks after the big US rate cut, dealers said.
The Sydney market picked up 0.7 percent and Shanghai added 0.09 percent, while Singapore closed on a stable note.
On the upside for the global economy, oil prices plunged as traders shrugged off a record OPEC output cut to focus on rising US energy reserves, analysts said.
In afternoon trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), light sweet crude for delivery in January plunged as low as 40.20 dollars a barrel -- which was the lowest level since July 2004.
In later trade, London Brent oil stood at 46.64 dollars per barrel, down one cent from Tuesday's close. New York crude was 2.08 dollars lower at 41.50.
OPEC ministers meeting in Oran, Algeria, approved a record output cut of 2.2 million barrels of oil a day on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the Fed reduced the target fed-funds rate from one percent to a range of zero to 0.25 percent -- the lowest since it began publishing the target in 1990 -- and said rates would be kept "exceptionally low" for now.
The Fed's decision, aimed at reviving the world's biggest economy, sent US shares surging, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumping 4.2 percent and the Nasdaq adding 5.4 percent. Wall Street reopens Wednesday at 1430 GMT.
But analysts said the aggressive move highlighted deep troubles in the United States and raised concerns about severe deflation if the rate cut fails to kick-start consumer spending.
"Such 'whatever it takes' policy underlines the dire economic situation in the US," said analysts at Calyon, the investment banking arm of Credit Agricole.
-- Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this report --
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