- 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
- Lebanon doctors tell of horror after pager blasts
- McIlroy eyes Wentworth glory after Irish Open collapse
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Wall Street rebounds, European stocks slump at end of volatile week
European stock markets ended a volatile week in the red of Friday, as investors weighed expectations of economic recovery against soaring inflation, rising interest rates and mixed earnings.
By contrast, Wall Street was in positive territory, and oil prices were steady.
The week has been dominated by investor concern that any possible interest rates by the US Federal Reserve -- as it seeks to rein in high inflation -- could choke off economic recovery following pandemic-induced lockdowns.
The European Central Bank, for its part, appears to be sitting tight for the time being, causing the euro to fall to a 19-month low against the dollar on Friday.
Rising tensions between Russia and the West over the Ukraine crisis have wiped around $7 trillion off stock market valuations across the globe so far this month.
"Downbeat mood rounds up a volatile week for markets," said Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor.
Wall Street was nevertheless in the black, with the tech-heavy NASDAQ rising by 1.4 percent after Apple unveiled record revenues.
Nevertheless, "inflation and tightening concerns exacerbated by surging oil prices and a hawkish Federal Reserve" continued to weigh on sentiment, said ThinkMarkets analyst, Fawad Razaqzada.
In Europe, Frankfurt and Paris ended the day in the red, even though France posted its strongest economist in more than 50 years, while German growth data disappointed.
The German economy shrank by 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter, but expanded by 2.8 percent over the year as a whole, the data showed, while in neighbouring France, economic growth reached seven percent.
In the US, inflation picked up to 4.9 percent in December from 4.7 percent in November.
"The consumer inflation rate is at a near 40-year high, wage pressures are building, supply chains are still tangled, oil prices are at a seven-year high, and more and more companies are talking about ongoing cost pressures," said Patrick O'Hare at Briefing.com.
While stock markets have rallied for the best part of two years, analysts said a hefty pullback can be expected, as investors take profit and central banks roll back massive pandemic-era stimulus.
Crude oil prices remained well-supported after a strong trading week, aided by the Ukraine-Russia crisis, with Brent rising above $91 per barrel.
"Russia's supply of natural gas to Western Europe could further spark volatility across financial markets, and as we turn the corner on the pandemic we now see a possible conflict as one of the biggest threats to markets in 2022," warned Federated Hermes analyst, Lewis Grant.
- Key figures around 1650 GMT -
New York - Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 34,227.14 points
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 1.1 percent at 7,466.07 (close)
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.5 percent at 15,356.16 (close)
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.8 percent at 6,965.88 (close)
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 1.1 percent at 4,137.74
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 2.1 percent at 26,717.34 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.1 percent at 23,550.08 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.0 percent at 3,361.44 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1165 from $1.1147
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3413 from $1.3381
Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.24 pence from 83.27 pence
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 115.19 yen from 115.36 yen
Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.6 percent at $90.61 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.6 percent at $88.02 per barrel
burs-rl/cdw/spm
P.Anderson--BTB