European stocks were also propped up by a few solid earnings updates.
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Britain’s FTSE 100 was volatile immediately after Draghi said that the European Central Bank would keep its asset-purchases unchanged but would re-examine its policy at its meeting in December.
Europe’s main stock markets rose and the euro slumped on Thursday after the European Central Bank said it would review its monetary policy stance in December, raising expectations of more economic stimulus in the Eurozone, the AFP reported. On Thursday, the euro tumbled more than 2% against the dollar, suffering its worst one day fall since January, after Draghi sent strong hints that the European Central Bank will resume cutting interest rates, even as they remain in negative territory.
The heavier index, representing all shares, also rose 56 points, or 1.4 percent, to settle at 4,160.64, on a value turnover of P8.1 billion. Ken Wattret, chief euro-zone market economist at BNP Paribas commented, “The communication at the press conference was as dovish as it could have possibly been without announcing more policy easing at this meeting; message received and understood”.
The ECB’s stance was not “wait and see”, he said, but “work and be ready”.
Commodities edged higher while the euro recovered a few lost ground against the dollar after preliminary figures from a Markit Economics survey showed the Eurozone economy picked up a few momentum in October. The S&P 500 gained 17.63 points, or 0.86 percent, to 2,070.14.
Data monitoring company Markit said its closely watched composite Purchasing Managers Index rose to 54 points compared with 53.6 points in September, well above the 50-point boom-or-bust line. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 1.7 percent to 5,351.60. The contract rose 18 cents to settle at $45.38 a barrel on Thursday.
On the currencies front, the yen gained 0.35% against the dollar after falling to its lowest level against the greenback in over a month earlier in the session. Brent crude, used to price global oils, added 29 cents to $48.37 a barrel in London.
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Still, a few analysts believe it is too early to say if the euro will sustainably break out of its rough $1.11-15 trading range in the past couple of months, and head to below $1.10. Gold was slightly lower at $1 165.36 an ounce after touching a nine-day low overnight, and was down nearly 1 percent for the week.
