The China Mail - European stocks steady before US jobs data

Asian equity indices rallied, catching up with strong gains Thursday on Wall Street and Europe after the Federal Reserve and Bank of England maintained their interest rates this week as global inflation cools.

"Any strength in (US) job additions or wages growth data... (and) the Fed could turn hawkish again," Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, noted ahead of Friday's release.

Investors were caught up in a wave of optimism that the Federal Reserve had finished its cycle of interest-rate hikes.

After a fallow two months, markets have recovered some of their mojo after the US central bank left borrowing costs on hold for a second straight meeting and hinted that no more increases were likely.

While Fed boss Jerome Powell left the door open for another lift as officials battle to further bring down inflation, traders were sceptical of such a move, with elevated US bond yields seen acting as a substitute for more tightening.

On the corporate front, Apple reported that sales fell for a fourth quarter in a row year-on-year, but profit rose on the back of iPhones and services.

The tech giant said it made a profit of $23 billion on revenue of $89.5 billion, which was down slightly from the same period last year.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook said iPhone sales set a new record for its September quarter while money taken in from services hit an all-time high.

- Key figures around 1100 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 7,442.39 points

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 15,164.52

Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.1 percent at 7,051.12

EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.1 percent at 4,166.56

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 2.5 percent at 17,664.12 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 3,030.80 (close)

New York - Dow: UP 1.7 percent at 33,839.08 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: Closed for a holiday

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0646 from $1.0626 on Thursday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2221 from $1.2204

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 150.20 yen from 150.48 yen

Euro/pound: UP at 87.12 pence from 87.04 pence

Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.1 percent at $86.95 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.2 percent at $82.66 per barrel

W.Cheng--ThChM