- Jewish school in Canada hit by gunfire for second time
- With medical report Harris seeks to play health card against Trump
- China-EU EV tariff talks in Brussels end with 'major differences': Beijing
- Buried Nazi past haunts Athens on liberation anniversary
- Harris to release medical report confirming fitness for presidency: campaign
- Nobel prize a timely reminder, Hiroshima locals say
- China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy
- Small Quebec company dominates one part of NHL hockey: jerseys
- Boeing to cut 10% of workforce as it sees big Q3 loss
- Want to film in Paris? No sexism allowed
- US, European markets rise as investors weigh rates, earnings
- In Colombia, children trade plastic waste for school supplies
- JPMorgan Chase profits top estimates, bank sees 'resilient' US economy
- Little progress at key meet ahead of COP29 climate summit
- 'Party atmosphere': Skygazers treated to another aurora show
- Kyrgyzstan opens rare probe into glacier destruction
- European Mediterranean states discuss Middle East, migration
- Thunberg leads pro-Palestinian, climate protest in Milan
- Stock markets diverge before China weekend briefing
- EU questions shopping app Temu over illegal products risk
- Han Kang's books sell out in South Korea after Nobel win
- Shanghai markets sink ahead of briefing on mixed day for Asia
- Investors, analysts eye bigger China stimulus at Saturday briefing
- Musk unveils robotaxi, pledges it 'before 2027'
- At least 11 dead in Florida but Hurricane Milton not as bad as feared
- Asian markets mixed after Wall St drop, Shanghai dips before briefing
- Automaker Stellantis says CEO will retire in 2026
- Musk's promised robotaxi unveil delayed
- On US coast, wind power foes embrace 'Save the Whales' argument
- At least 10 dead in Florida after Hurricane Milton spawns tornadoes
- Internet Archive reels from 'catastrophic' cyberattack, data breach
- Wall Street stocks retreat from records on US inflation data
- Israel strikes central Beirut, killing 22
- Solar storm could impact US hurricane recovery efforts: agency
- Delta eyes Election Day travel pullback as profits climb
- Florida battered by hurricane, floods but spared 'worst-case scenario'
- UK's William and Kate in first joint public engagement since cancer treatment
- Over 200 women in legal talks with Harrods over Fayed abuse claims
- A very stiff breeze: BBC says sorry for 20,000 kph wind forecast
- Musk finally unveiling his long-promised robotaxi
- London's Frieze art fair goes potty for ceramics
- US, Europe stocks fall on US inflation data
- US consumer inflation eases to 2.4% in September
- Hurricane Milton tornadoes kill four in Florida amid rescue efforts
- South Korea's Han Kang wins literature Nobel
- Ikea posts fall in annual sales after lowering prices
- Stock markets diverge, oil gains after China rebounds
- World can't 'waste time' trading climate change blame: COP29 hosts
- South Korean same-sex couples make push for marriage equality
- Mumbai declares day of mourning for Indian industrialist Ratan Tata
Global stocks mostly up as yen tumbles after Bank of Japan decision
Global stock markets mostly rose Friday following modestly positive economic data in Europe and the United States, while the yen tumbled after the Bank of Japan maintained its easing policies.
European equities ended the session in positive territory after a morning in the red, shrugging off official data confirming that the eurozone economy only just eked out growth in the first three months of the year.
Wall Street followed a similar pattern, getting past early weakness to push higher for a second straight day.
"It's a little bit of a relief trade," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare, adding that investors remain "a little guarded."
The week's economic data was "okay," said O'Hare, who noted that earnings from influential technology US companies largely met expectations and in some cases exceeded them.
The Federal Reserve's favored measure, the annual personal consumption expenditures price index, eased to 4.2 percent in March from a revised 5.1 percent a month earlier, with a sharp decline recorded in energy prices, according to data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
"Today's PCE data was pretty much as expected but is trending in a good direction for those hoping for inflation to moderate," analysts for Charles Schwab said in a note.
Most analysts expect the Fed to again lift interest rates by a quarter-point on Wednesday in response to inflation.
The United States on Thursday revealed that the economy had slowed more than expected in the first quarter.
Hard on its heels were Friday's official data showing the eurozone economy expanded just 0.1 percent in the first quarter over the previous three months, as high inflation and interest rates weigh on activity.
"The very small increase in (eurozone) GDP... means a technical recession has been avoided by a whisker," noted Capital Economics' chief Europe economist Andrew Kenningham.
"However, the economy has essentially stalled as domestic demand has been hit hard by the energy shock followed by monetary tightening."
Germany, the EU's biggest economy, saw growth stagnate at zero percent over the previous quarter.
The yen, meanwhile, fell sharply after the Bank of Japan announced a review of its longstanding monetary easing measures, but said it would maintain them for the time being in the first policy decision under new governor Kazuo Ueda.
Ueda has previously called the BoJ's current stance "appropriate" and warned of the risk of sudden moves, given global economic uncertainty.
Ryutaro Kono, chief economist at BNP Paribas, predicted that the central bank could drop its negative interest-rate policy towards the end of 2024 or later, when the global economy is expected to see clear recovery.
"Because long-term yields are stable globally, the BoJ under Ueda does not have to rush to make policy adjustments," he said.
- Key figures around 2050 GMT -
New York - Dow: UP 0.8 percent at 34,098.16 (close)
New York - S&P 500: UP 0.8 percent at 4,169.48 (close)
New York - Nasdaq: UP 0.7 percent at 12,226.58 (close)
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent at 7,870.57 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX 40: UP 0.8 percent at 15,922.38 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.1 percent at 7,491.50 (close)
EURO STOXX 50: FLAT at 4,359.31 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.3 percent at 19,894.57 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.1 percent at 3,323.27 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.4 percent at 28,856.44 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1020 from $1.1026 on Thursday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2567 from $1.2498
Dollar/yen: UP at 136.28 yen from 133.97 yen
Euro/pound: DOWN at 87.64 pence from 88.24 pence
Brent North Sea crude: UP 1.5 percent at $79.54 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.6 percent at $76.78 per barrel
burs-jmb/caw
H.Cho--CPN