STOCK MARKETS GAIN A BIT BUT EURO RISES

Stock markets rose on Thursday, but without the spring of Wall Street’s tech rebound as Asia’s investors trod carefully, while the euro crept higher as currency traders stood by for a crucial European Central Bank meeting later in the day.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan snapped its longest losing streak since February with a 0.7% gain. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.9% and Chinese blue chips rose 0.8%, Tom Westbrook reported for Reuters.

Markets in Sydney and Hong Kong were just better than flat and, in a sobering reminder of the risks, Jakarta nosedived 5% on plans to re-introduce COVID-19 social restrictions in the Indonesian capital.

"They’re half-hearted moves in Asia ... nothing that smacks of conviction really,” said Mizuho Bank’s head of economics and strategy in Singapore, Vishnu Varathan. “There are some questions about what exactly triggered this turnaround (on Wall Street). It wasn’t as if the sun came poking out and it’s all blue skies.” Futures traded either side of steady, with Euro STOXX 50 futures last up 0.3% and FTSE futures down 0.2%, while futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.1% and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.4%.

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