TOKYO (AP) โ Global stocks were mixed Thursday as European markets retreated following gains in Asia, where Chinese stocks rose after Beijing announced a series of policies to support sagging markets.
France's CAC 40 lost 0.2% to 7,440.66 and Germany's DAX fell 0.3% to 16,849.26. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.1% to 7,521.19. The S&P 500 future was little changed, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%.
The European Central Bank was expected to keep interest rates unchanged on Thursday and at its meeting ECB chief Christine Lagarde would send a message to financial markets to cool them with expectations of quick rate cuts.
The ECB leader faces financial markets that anticipate cuts as early as April, and stock prices that have risen and fallen depending on hopes of a boost from lower rates.
In Asian trading, Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 2.0% to 16,211.96, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 3.0% to 2,906.11.
Late Wednesday, China's central bank announced a set of rules that will govern lending to property developers. Earlier, it said it would cut bank reserve requirements to inject about 1 trillion yuan ($141 billion) into the economy.
China's economy has slowed and is forecast to grow below 5% this year, its lowest level since 1990, excluding the COVID-19 pandemic years. A debt crisis in the real estate industry has compounded other longer-term problems.
Shares of Chinese property developers rose on Thursday, with China Evergrande up 6.4% and Country Garden gaining 5.9%.
The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo was little changed and finished about 10 points higher at 36,236.47.
Speculation has increased that the Bank of Japan will end its negative rate policy later this year, and investors are preparing for what that could mean for the country's inflation, as well as its currency.
South Korea's Kospi rose less than 1 point to 2,470.34 after the country's central bank reported that the economy grew at a better-than-expected quarterly rate of 0.6% in the final quarter of 2023.
Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5% to 7,555.40.
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 added 0.1% to 4,868.55, setting a record for the fourth consecutive day. Gains in technology stocks caused the Nasdaq composite to rise 0.4% and the Dow industrials to lose 0.3%.
Stocks have surged to highs recently on hopes that cooling inflation will convince the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates several times this year.
Later on Thursday, the government is expected to report that the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of about 2% in October-December, slowing from a brisk 4.9% annual growth rate in the previous quarter.
Economic reports due at the end of the week could further influence expectations for rate cuts this year. On Thursday, the government will give its first estimate of how fast the economy grew by the end of 2023. A day later, it will give the latest monthly update on the inflation measure the Federal Reserve prefers to use.
In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude added $1.23 to $76.32 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose $1.13 to $80.77 a barrel.
In currency trading, the US dollar rose to 147.60 Japanese yen from 147.51 yen. The euro cost $1.0900, down from $1.0884.
