Asian shares held firm and US stock futures edged higher in
early trade on Friday as expectations of additional stimulus from the European
Central Bank underpinned appetite for riskier assets, while the euro hovered
near seven-month lows.
Benchmark share indexes in Japan, South Korea and Australia
all rose around 0.2 percent, though the broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares
outside of Japan was almost flat due to the dollar's strength.
US stock futures ESc1 rose 0.4 percent to their highest
level since Nov. 9 after a market holiday on Thursday for Thanksgiving Day.
Although the US holiday thinned global financial trade, the pan-European
FTSEurofirst 300 index gained 0.9 percent on Thursday to end at three-month
high, led by German shares.
The European Central Bank meets next Thursday and most in
the market expect it to expand its asset purchase program and lower its deposit
rate, the rate at which banks park excess funds with it. Traders are now
speculating that the ECB could cut rates more than the previous market
consensus of a 0.10 percentage point cut.
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