- Wall Street stocks hit fresh records as oil prices slide
- Strike-hit Boeing leaves experts puzzled by strategy
- NASA launches probe to study if life possible on icy Jupiter moon
- EVs seek to regain sales momentum at Paris Motor Show
- NASA probe Europa Clipper lifts off for Jupiter's icy moon
- 'Unsustainable' housing crisis bedevils Spain's socialist govt
- Stocks shrug off China disappointment but oil slides
- Stocks diverge, oil retreats as China disappoints markets
- Trio wins economics Nobel for work on wealth inequality
- Ex-Stasi officer jailed over 1974 Berlin border killing
- Shanghai stocks gain after stimulus briefing as markets rally
- Shanghai stocks gain after stimulus briefing as Asian markets rally
- Nearly 90, but opera legend Kabaivanska is still calling tune
- With inflation down, ECB eyes faster tempo of rate cuts
- Is life possible on a Jupiter moon? NASA goes to investigate
- Ex-Stasi officer faces verdict over 1974 Berlin border killing
- Role of government, poverty research tipped for economics Nobel
- In milestone, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- In a first, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- Bangladeshi Hindus shrug off attack worries to celebrate festival
- Ubisoft fears assassin's hit over falling sales
- Vietnam, China hold talks on calming South China Sea tensions
- SpaceX will try to 'catch' giant Starship rocket shortly before landing
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgery: reports
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgey: reports
- 'Little Gregory' murder haunts France 40 years on
- Tariffs, tax cuts, energy: What is in Trump's economic plan?
- Amazon wants to be everything to everyone
- 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
Stocks rally on upbeat US data
Equity markets rallied and the dollar firmed Wednesday after data showed the US economy was resilient in the face of rising interest rates aimed at cooling elevated inflation.
Tokyo closed up two percent and eurozone indices neared gains of one percent in early afternoon deals.
However, reports that Washington could block the export of artificial intelligence chips to China weighed on sentiment.
"Upbeat sentiment about signs of resilience for the... American economy is over-riding worries about China's flagging recovery," noted Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Wall Street on Tuesday cheered news that a closely watched gauge of US consumer confidence had hit its highest level since January last year, while new home sales surged in May and orders for big-ticket manufactured items rose again.
The figures tempered fears that the world's top economy could tip into recession because of more than a year of rate hikes.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday criticised the European Central Bank over its own hiking of rates, warning "the cure risks proving more damaging than the disease".
Meloni was reacting to ECB President Christine Lagarde's warning Tuesday that the bank would "continue to increase rates in July" unless there was "a material change to the outlook".
The ECB has lifted borrowing costs at the fastest pace ever over the past year in a bid to cool inflation after Russia's war in Ukraine sent energy and food prices surging.
While sky-high energy prices that drove inflation up last year have come down, ECB officials are now concerned about the impact of rising wages as workers demand higher salaries to cover rising costs.
- Key figures around 1115 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.7 percent at 7,510.63 points
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.8 percent at 15,980.40
Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.9 percent at 7,277.04
EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.9 percent at 4,342.06
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 2.0 percent at 33,193.99 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.1 percent at 19,172.05 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: FLAT at 3,189.38 (close)
New York - Dow: UP 0.6 percent at 33,926.74 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0951 from $1.0964 on Tuesday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2687 from $1.2748
Dollar/yen: UP at 144.07 yen from 144.06 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 86.30 pence from 85.95 pence
Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.1 percent at $72.33 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.1 percent at $67.74 per barrel
Y.Jeong--CPN