LONDON: European and US stock markets rose Thursday as investors closed positions before the long Easter holiday weekend.
The mood of investors has improved this week but worries remain over Wall Street's recent tech-based selloff and trade war fears, dealers said.
"Uncertainty is permeating throughout financial markets today, as the volatile first half of the week appears to be giving way to a more stable and hesitant second half," said IG analyst Joshua Mahony.
"In a week with few notable economic indicators, it comes as no surprise that affairs over the pond continue to take precedence, whether it be the threat of a US-led trade war or a wide-ranging tech sell-off spurred by Facebook's loose data security."
Sentiment was partly lifted after Chicago-based US exchange giant CME Group bought British operator NEX on Thursday for about £3.9 billion ($5.4 billion, 4.4 billion euros) in a deal aimed at cost-cutting and diversifying their businesses.
Data showing first-time claims for unemployment benefits hitting a 45-year low last week and the US inflation rate hitting an 11-month high of 1.8 percent also comforted investors, helping Wall Street open higher, with the Dow gaining 0.5 percent at the opening bell.
- Renault accelerates -
Paris stocks revved higher, driven by a 5.7 percent gain in Renault shares.
Shares in the French automaker reached the highest level in a decade at one point after the Bloomberg news agency said that the French automaker was talking to its alliance partner Nissan about a merger that would create a new group that trades as a single stock.
The London stock market meanwhile forged ahead as official data showed that the British economy grew by 1.8 percent last year. That was an upgrade from the prior estimate of 1.7 percent.
Frankfurt, Paris and London will shut up shop for a four-day Easter holiday weekend at the close of play on Thursday, and will reopen for business on Tuesday.
US markets will be closed on Friday but open on Monday.
In Asia, stocks fluctuated Thursday as a volatile week drew to an early close in many markets.
Hong Kong swung through the day and finished up 0.2 percent, following the previous day's 2.5 percent dive, while Shanghai finished 1.2 percent higher.
Seoul added 0.7 percent following news that North Korean leader Kim and South Korea's President Moon Jae-in will hold a summit on April 27.
- Trump attacks Amazon -
Tech sector jitters weren't calmed Thursday when US President Donald Trump took aim at Amazon, claiming the US online giant pays too little in taxes and hurts other retailers.
"Unlike others, they pay little or no taxes to state & local governments, use our Postal System as their Delivery Boy (causing tremendous loss to the US), and are putting many thousands of retailers out of business!" Trump tweeted.
The comments came a day after a report by the news site Axios that Trump was "obsessed" with Amazon.
Market titan Facebook has led a plunge in big-name stocks in recent days on worries about a regulatory clampdown following a massive data breach at the social media site. Its shares climbed 1.6 percent in morning trading, but are still down around 16 percent from mid-March.
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