- Saudi crown prince says no Israel ties without Palestinian state
- Canada to further cut international student, foreign worker permits
- YouTube launches new TV-focused tools for creators
- White Sox heading for worst season in MLB history
- China the top challenge in US history: senior diplomat
- Hong Kong democracy tycoon's son warns time running out
- New migraine drugs no better than cheap painkillers: big study
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs again denied bail in sex trafficking case
- Brewers clinch division title as MLB playoff race heats up
- Man City blunted by 'giant' Inter in Champions League stalemate
- US stocks dip despite larger Fed interest rate cut
- Man City held by Inter as PSG pinch win in Champions League
- All Blacks recall Beauden Barrett for Australia Test
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill 20, wound 450
- Spurs late show saves Postecoglou blushes at Coventry
- PSG snatch late goal to beat Champions League debutants Girona
- Gittens' late double gives Dortmund Champions League win at Brugge
- Man City blunted by Inter in Champions League stalemate
- Hidden talent: French Olympic star Marchand opts for disguise
- MrBeast named in California lawsuit over 'Beast Games' show
- Gauff splits with Gilbert as coach after 14-month run
- Hundreds of thousands at risk in Sudan's El-Fasher: UN
- Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sex crime charge
- Venezuelan opposition candidate says letter conceding election was coerced
- Ukraine official claims Russian advance in Kursk has been 'stopped'
- X update allows app to bypass Brazil ban: internet providers
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill 14, wound 450
- US Fed makes aggressive rate cut, weeks before election
- Arsenal's Odegaard faces lengthy injury absence
- India coal expansion risks massive methane growth: report
- China the top challenge in US history, top diplomat says
- US Fed makes larger half-point cut in first reduction since 2020
- Ronaldo's Al Nassr appoint former AC Milan boss Pioli
- Ainslie 'relieved' as British book place in Louis Vuitton Cup final
- Struggling Roma replace sacked icon De Rossi with Ivan Juric
- Women's NBA will add 15th team in Portland in 2026
- Brazil fires need harsher punishment: environmental police boss
- Boeing to start large temporary furloughs amid Seattle strike
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill nine, wound 300
- 'Emergency' declared over falling UK butterfly numbers
- McIlroy outlines threats to golf peace deal
- Stock markets, dollar slip before US rate decision
- Russian advance in Kursk 'stopped': Ukraine official to AFP
- UN members demand end to 'unlawful' Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories
- Snapchat pushes 'safer' platform image, but not everyone agrees
- Three dead, 100 wounded in new wave of Lebanon device explosions
- So where does the oceans' plastic waste come from?
- Allied war heroes buried in Netherlands... 80 years on
- Marsh coy over Australia's choice to open alongside Head
- New London sculpture pays tribute to trans community
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Stocks rally before key Fed update, oil hits $90
European and US stock markets powered higher Wednesday, recovering further from recent sharp losses, as traders await the outcome of a key Federal Reserve policy meeting.
Meanwhile, the main international oil contract hit $90 per barrel amid continued geopolitical tensions.
Wall Street's main indices snapped higher Wednesday, rebounding from Tuesday's losses, with the Dow up 1.1 percent in late morning trading.
Europe's major indices also ended the day with strong gains.
After weeks of uncertainty, the US central bank delivers Wednesday its views on the state of the world's top economy and how officials plan to tackle decades-high inflation without knocking its recovery off course.
While Fed boss Jerome Powell has pledged that interest rate rises would be carefully calibrated, the prospect of higher borrowing costs has rattled markets across the world.
Most key indices have been deep in the red from the start of the year -- with Wall Street particularly hard hit.
Powell's comments Wednesday will be pored over for signs of the Fed's plans, which most commentators believe include a first hike in March.
"The big question going into this meeting for traders and investors is whether the Fed will increase... four times this year and when the first interest rate hike will take place," said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Avatrade.
- Market buzz -
Part of the market's exuberance may also be speculation that Powell may tone down his remarks about the need to aggressively raise interest rates.
"There is even some buzz that Fed Chair Powell won't sound as hawkish as feared when he holds his press conference," said analyst Patrick J. O'Hare at Briefing.com.
"That view may come back to bite the market," he added.
Despite recent stock market volatility, analysts believe investors remain relatively upbeat about the prospects for the global economy once the current wave of the Covid-19 pandemic wanes.
"Providing (a) boost to the stock markets is optimism that the economic recovery is going to speed up in the months ahead," said Fawad Razaqzada at ThinkMarkets.
Pent up demand for holiday travel will be unleashed as "travel restrictions continue to ease across Europe as Omicron cases decline and more people get double or triple vaccinated," he added.
Nevertheless, authorities are currently downgrading growth forecasts as the impact of the Omicron variant becomes clear.
Germany on Wednesday trimmed its 2022 growth forecast to 3.6 percent, down from 4.1 percent.
The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday lowered its forecast for global growth by half a point to 4.4 percent due to the Omicron variant and geopolitical tensions.
- Oil risk premium -
Included in those tensions is the standoff on the Ukraine-Russia border, with Moscow building up troop numbers and the West led by the United States warning the risk of an invasion "remains imminent" and urging its citizens to leave Ukraine.
The West has threatened to impose severe sanctions on Russia in case it goes forward with an invasion.
Those tensions helped push the price of Brent crude above $90 for the first time since October 2014.
"The fundamentals (of supply and demand) remain bullish for oil prices and the prospect of a Russian invasion of Ukraine will only increase the risk premium," OANDA analyst Craig Erlam told AFP.
"With the price now above $90 and gathering momentum once more, it may just be a matter of time until it's flirting with $100."
- Key figures around 1630 GMT -
New York - Dow: UP 1.1 percent at 34,657.07 points
EURO STOXX 50: UP 2.1 percent at 4,165.04
London - FTSE 100: UP 1.3 percent at 7,469.78 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: UP 2.1 percent at 6,981.96 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 2.2 percent at 15,459.39 (close)
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.4 percent at 27,011.33 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.2 percent at 24,289.90 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 3,455.67 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1283 from $1.1305 late Tuesday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3515 from $1.3507
Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.46 pence from 83.66 pence
Dollar/yen: UP at 114.35 yen from 113.87 yen
Brent North Sea crude: UP 2.1 percent at $90.30 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.1 percent at $87.66 per barrel
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H.Seidel--BTB