The Japan Times - Stocks end higher as attention turns to interest rates

Most of the major European indices still managed to end the session in positive territory, while Wall Street posted decent gains for the fourth straight session after rough weeks of trading in January.

In Europe, London's FTSE closed 0.6 percent higher and the CAC 40 in Paris added 0.2 percent, but Frankfurt's DAX ended flat.

The Dow finished trading with a 0.6 percent gain, while the Nasdaq saw a similar increase and the S&P 500 performed more strongly, rising 0.9 percent.

Karl Haeling of LBBW attributed the gains to a feeling that the January market sell-off had gone overboard.

"The market was due for a rally," he said in an interview.

Also helping sentiment were recent indications from the Federal Reserve that while it is likely to hike interest rates in March to curb inflation, it won't deploy aggressive tactics, such as hiking twice as much as it usually does in a given meeting.

"I do think that less hawkish commentary from the Fed officials this week have certainly helped calm some concerns," Haeling said.

Oil prices rose after the OPEC+ oil producers group stuck to its guns and increased output only modestly despite the price of crude soaring to multi-year highs recently. But prices retreated by the close of New York trading.

"The news was hardly surprising, as the group has rigidly followed this approach since it was first agreed upon, even in December when oil prices plunged following the emergence of Omicron," said Edward Gardner, commodities expert at Capital Economics.

Attention now turns to the European Central Bank and the Bank of England as they hold their regular policy meetings on Thursday, events that will be closely watched by investors.

While the guardian of the euro is widely expected to hold borrowing costs unchanged, analysts are predicting the UK central bank will tighten policy for the second meeting in a row in a bid to rein in soaring inflation.

- Off the boil -

In Asia, investors appeared to be less worried about the Fed's plans to tighten monetary policy, while strong corporate results lifted optimism about the outlook.

And while there remains plenty of volatility and uncertainty on trading floors owing to geopolitical tensions and the Omicron spread, analysts remain upbeat for the year.

Some Asian markets were closed due to the Lunar New Year break, but those that opened -- Tokyo, Sydney, Wellington, Jakarta and Manila -- all gained more than one percent.

After a difficult January, world stock markets have enjoyed a strong start to February as investors hunt for bargains, according to analysts.

As well as the ECB and BoE meetings, traders are waiting for the publication of US jobs data Friday for the latest snapshot of the health of the world's biggest economy.

The dollar has come off the boil against its main rivals after recent strong gains on expectations of aggressive Fed interest rate hikes to combat soaring inflation.

- Key figures around 2120 GMT -

New York - Dow: UP 0.6 percent at 35,629.33 (close)

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.9 percent at 4,589.38 (close)

New York - Nasdaq: UP 0.5 percent at 14,417.55 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 7,583.00 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.04 percent at 15,613.77 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 7,115.27 (close)

EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.1 percent at 4,222.05 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.7 percent at 27,533.60 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holiday

Shanghai - Composite: Closed for a holiday

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1304 from $1.1269 late Tuesday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3573 from $1.3519

Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.28 pence from 83.33 pence

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 114.42 yen from 114.67 yen

Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $89.47 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.1 percent at $88.26 per barrel

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M.Saito--JT