schema:articleBody
| - European stock markets reversed initial gains on Friday as dealers continued to assess the outlook for both US interest rates and the global coronavirus crisis. Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell had indicated on Thursday that US interest rates will stay ultra low for as long as needed as the nation seeks to recover from the devastating Covid-19 pandemic. In early morning deals, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index was almost 0.1 percent lower at 5,994.99 points. In the eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX 30 index shed 0.7 percent to 13,006.05 points and the Paris CAC 40 was down 0.5 percent at 4,990.99. "It looks like the Fed news wasn't ... appetising for European investors, who (are) showing signs of distress regarding rising Covid-19 cases... and the possibility of seeing stricter government measures again," Swissquote Bank senior analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya told AFP. "Also, the overbought market conditions in US indices justify some profit-taking at the current levels, but I believe that the price pullbacks will remain limited." In a much-anticipated speech on Thursday, Powell said the Fed would be in no rush to reel in inflation, even if it overshoots the central bank's two percent target, instead opting for an average that takes into account periods of weak price rises. The Fed chief added that policymakers would stick with the new framework "for some time", indicating that the era of cheap borrowing is here for the foreseeable future. burs-rfj/bmm
|