Euro Picks Up As ECB Counsels Patience

LONDON, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News -8th Sept,2016) - The euro shot higher Thursday as the European Central Bank hiked its 2016 growth forecast and called for "patience" before injecting more stimulus in the eurozone economy.

The euro rose as high $1.1327 after the ECB's economists said they now expect 1.7 percent growth this year, up from the 1.6 percent they forecast in June. The euro later settled at $1.1315 up from $1.1242 late Wednesday.

Equities traders liked less the ECB's call for patience for current stimulus measures to work, although the ECB had been widely expected to keep its interest rates and hold off ramping up stimulus as the shock over the decision of Britain to leave the European Union hasn't been as strong as feared.

Frankfurt slumped 1.4 percent and Paris dropped 0.8 percent in afternoon trading, Meanwhile, outside of the eurozone, London dipped 0.2 percent despite merger and acquisition news in Britain's fast-consolidating tech sector, in the wake of SoftBank's blockbuster purchase of iPhone chip designer ARM Holdings earlier this year.

British software group Micro Focus saw its share price leap over 17 percent higher to 2,295 pence after it agreed to merge with some of Hewlett Packard Enterprise's software assets. The deal creates an entity worth $8.8 billion (7.8 billion Euros) that will be "one of the world's largest pure-play enterprise software companies," the pair said in a statement.

- Draghi: 'be patient' - ======================== Away from the corporate arena, investor focus remained squarely on the ECB. Expectations had been high its chief Mario Draghi may well start laying the groundwork for policy shifts later in the year, especially if Brexit economic pain worsens demonstrably.

But for the moment, Draghi said the changes to the outlook are not "so substantial to warrant a decision to act.

Our monetary policy is effective". While Draghi stated the ECB stands ready to take further stimulus measures if needed he also pleaded for patience to give the bank's unprecedented stimulus measures a chance to work.

"Ultimately we've got to be patient," Draghi said. US equities also slid at the opening bell, following European stocks lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipping 0.3 percent. Elsewhere, Asian stocks mostly rose Thursday, extending a recent run of gains while Hong Kong and Shanghai were boosted by data showing Chinese imports rose in August for the first time in almost two years.

China's customs department said August imports rose 1.5 percent on-year, the first increase in 22 months, while exports fell less than expected thanks to weakness in the country's Yuan Currency.

Tokyo closed down 0.3 percent but the standout performer was Nintendo, which soared on news it had developed an exclusive Super Mario game for Apple. - Key figures around 1330 GMT - =============================== London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 6,832.12 Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 1.4 percent at 10,606.44 Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.8 percent at 4,519.22 EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 1.2 percent at 3,056.19 New York - DOW: DOWN 0.3 percent at 18,473.06 New York - S&P 500: DOWN 0.2 percent at 2,181.16 New York - Nasdaq: DOWN 0.3 percent at 5,266.35.

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.3 percent at 16,958.77 (close) Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.1 percent at 3,095.95 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 0.8 percent at 23,919.34 (close) Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3330 from $1.3340 Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1315 from $1.1242 late Wednesday Dollar/yen: DOWN at 101.69 Yen from 101.73 yen