- 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
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- 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
- Italy seen overtaking France as world's largest wine producer
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European stocks retreat after positive start, oil surges
European equities retreated from a positive start Friday as investors await key US jobs data after being spooked by a possible eurozone interest rate hike and the crash of Facebook owner Meta's shares.
Asian stock markets closed higher as a surge in Hong Kong on its first day back from a holiday break helped overcome a sharp drop on Wall Street Thursday, while forecast-beating earnings from Amazon helped to offset worries elsewhere.
Oil prices struck seven year highs close to $93 per barrel as traders bet on continued improvement in demand thanks to the economic reopening, and with the United States hit by a cold snap.
Lingering worries over Ukraine-Russia tensions were also playing a key role in the spike, with analysts predicting $100 could be breached soon.
All eyes were on US jobs data due Friday -- likely to be seen as a guide for future Federal Reserve rate hike decisions as central banks battle decades-high inflation.
"The non-farm payrolls report... is a keenly watched snapshot of the US labour market, and its likely to show Omicron caused jobs growth to slow," noted Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Commentators said a strong reading on the jobs front would revive talk of a 50-basis-point US rate hike in March.
The European Central Bank's apparent shift in its outlook towards lifting rates this year itself stunned investors Thursday.
ECB chief Christine Lagarde had for months said inflationary pressures would be temporary and dissipate as the world economy reopens and supply chains resume -- allowing the bank to keep rates ultra-low this year.
But a record jump in eurozone prices last month and no sign of them easing has forced her to re-evaluate, saying the "situation had indeed changed".
The news boosted the euro -- the single currency recording a weekly gain of nearly three percent against the dollar.
It also came as the Bank of England announced successive rate increases Thursday.
The ECB news jolted US markets, which were already down owing to a rout in tech stocks, which came after Meta's sobering earnings report that caused it to lose more than a quarter of its value.
Hong Kong led the way in Asia, rising more than three percent as investors in the city returned from a three-day Lunar New Year break.
"It's clearly a rebound to catch up with the world, but we need to see how Hong Kong can navigate global volatility from here on," said Joshua Crabb at Robeco Hong Kong.
- Key figures around 1200 GMT -
London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.2 percent at 7,511.39 points
Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 1.7 percent at 15,108.58
Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 1.1 percent at 6,930.30
EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 1.6 percent at 4,074.32
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.7 percent at 27,439.99 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 3.2 percent at 24,573.29 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: Closed for a holiday
New York - Dow: DOWN 1.5 percent at 35,111.16 (close)
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1477 from $1.1438 late Thursday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3571 from $1.3601
Euro/pound: UP at 84.53 pence from 84.06 pence
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 114.85 yen from 114.95 yen
Brent North Sea crude: UP 2.0 percent at $92.94 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.1 percent at $92.19 per barrel
E.Schubert--BTB