| schema:articleBody
| - European and US stocks advanced Friday on optimism over the chances of an EU economic stimulus plan and fresh hopes for coronavirus treatments. Traders nonetheless continued to track rising virus infection rates and braced for next week's corporate earnings reports. The London stock exchange was 0.8 percent higher at the close, while Frankfurt added 1.2 percent and Paris was up by 1.0 percent. In New York, the Dow Jones index had added 0.7 percent in midday trading. "European stocks climbed higher on improving production data, growing optimism EU leaders will reach an understanding next week on a 750 billion-euro economic response ... and on positive news with Gilead's coronavirus treatment and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine," OANDA analyst Edward Moya summed up. On the downside in Asia however, Hong Kong stocks sank 1.8 percent as a fresh outbreak in the city prompted authorities to reimpose measures including the closure of schools. "It's basically been a chop-fest this week," noted markets.com analyst Neil Wilson. Gold, after hitting a near nine-year high earlier this week, eased lower in late exchanges as markets advanced. The markets have generally displayed a healthy resilience to the rapid spread of the disease around the world, with hopes for economic recovery, easing of lockdowns and government largesse providing crucial support. "COVID-19 case numbers will need to be monitored but the market seems to have developed a degree of herd immunity to these, at least in terms of headline risk," Wilson remarked. The US had reported 65,551 new coronavirus cases, a record for a 24-hour period, with infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci calling for a pause in states' reopenings. But Moya noted that analysis by US drugmaker Gilead of its leading anti-viral drug "indicated that remdesivir reduced mortality risk for Covid-19 patients by 62 percent compared to standard care." In Brussels, EU Council president Charles Michel on Friday proposed setting up a five billion euro ($5.7-billion) reserve fund for unforeseen consequences of Brexit on bloc member states. Analysts at the Dutch bank ING also noted that reticent EU members, not least the Netherlands, might "take steps towards a compromise on the EU recovery fund." London - FTSE 100: UP 0.8 percent at 6,095.41 points (close) Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 1.2 percent at 12,633.71 (close) Paris - CAC 40: UP 1.0 percent at 4,970.48 (close) EURO STOXX 50: UP 1.1 percent at 3,296.22 New York - Dow: UP 0.7 percent at 25,883.93 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.1 percent at 22,290.81 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 1.8 percent at 25,727.41 (close) Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 2.0 percent at 3,383.32 (close) Gold: DOWN 0.3 percent at $1,798.31 an ounce West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.6 percent at $40.24 per barrel Brent North Sea crude: UP 1.6 percent at $43.02 per barrel Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1306 from $1.1285 at 2100 GMT Dollar/yen: DOWN at 106.82 yen from 107.20 yen Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2630 from $1.2606 Euro/pound: DOWN at 89.51 pence from 89.52 pence burs-rfj/wai/cdw
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)