European Stock Markets Limp Towards Weekend Break 23 February 2018

Europe's main stock markets were mildly higher Friday, failing to profit much from gains across Asia, while London was under pressure from a strong pound and some weak corporate results.

London, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Feb, 2018 ) :Europe's main stock markets were mildly higher Friday, failing to profit much from gains across Asia, while London was under pressure from a strong pound and some weak corporate results.

Wall Street started firmer ahead of a Federal Reserve monetary policy report to Congress. The Dollar rose against its key rivals, boosted by expectations that US interest rates will rise a little faster than previously forecast this year.

"The story defining the dollar's impressive appreciation this week continues to revolve around heightened speculations of higher US interest rates in 2018," said Lukman Otunuga, an analyst at FXTM.

Shares in Royal Bank of Scotland slumped 4.6 percent to 269 pence in London, despite the state-rescued bank posting its first profit since 2007, on the eve of the global financial crisis. "It seems that investors were put off but the lack of clarity surrounding RBS' settlement with the US Department of Justice" linked to the US subprime mortgage crisis a decade ago, said Connor Campbell, analyst at Spreadex trading group.

British Airways owners IAG also saw their shares nosedive. - All about nerves - Earlier on Friday, Asian stock markets ended the week on a positive note following overnight gains on Wall Street, traders said.

While global stock market volatility that greeted the start of February has subsided somewhat, traders continue to fret over the prospect that US borrowing costs are likely to rise further as the world's top economy powers ahead.

"Investors are just nervous about interest rates," Paul Nolte, a portfolio manager at Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago, told Bloomberg news. "Everybody is waiting for more economic data to confirm or deny whatever the Fed position is.

It's a big case of the nerves." Equities sank in the middle of the week after the Fed released minutes pointing towards a number of US rate hikes this year owing to an expected surge in inflation as Donald Trump's tax cuts kick in and economic growth improves.

In foreign exchange meanwhile, the dollar climbed against the euro on Friday, recovering some losses amid cautious moves by the European Central Bank towards an exit from crisis-era stimulus. The broadly positive sentiment provided a platform for the greenback to rise also against the Yen, which is usually the go-to Currency in times of turmoil.

In commodities trading, oil prices retreated on profit-taking, one day after crude futures rallied on easing concerns about a pick-up in US supplies.