File photo: AP
US and European stocks moved higher on Thursday as investors digested company updates and awaited developments on US stimulus, dealers said, while Bitcoin struck a fresh high.
Lacklustre US unemployment claims data helped keep investors confident that lawmakers would approve a fiscal stimulus package and comments Wednesday by US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell also indicated the monetary policy was likely to remain loose and there is little risk of inflation.
The Dow rose from a record close at the start of trading, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also rising and sitting just shy of record high levels.
The US unemployment data showed that first-time claims for benefits dipped by just 19,000 to 793,000. While that was a five-week low, analysts had been looking for a bigger drop.
"The key takeaway from the report is unchanged: the labour market is not in a good place and that will necessitate additional stimulus measures," said Patrick J. O'Hare at Briefing.com.
In Europe, both Paris and Frankfurt were higher in afternoon trading, but gains were capped by news that the EU has slashed this year's eurozone economic growth forecast to 3.8 percent from 4.2 percent, citing the impact of Covid-19 curbs.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin struck a fresh high of $48,364.05 as the cryptocurrency gained further mainstream support.
After the announcement on Monday by Tesla that it had bought $1.5 billion in bitcoin and would soon accept the cryptocurrency, on Thursday it picked up support from US bank, BNY Mellon.
"The corporate support just keeps on coming: America's oldest bank –- BNY Mellon -– will start financing Bitcoin and other cryptos. It's a big deal since BNY is the first big national custodial bank to offer custody services for crypto assets," said analyst Neil Wilson at Markets.com.
In corporate action, Shell outlined green plans to switch away from crude, saying that its oil output is locked in decline after peaking in 2019.
"On the UK market, healthcare and industrials did their best to spur the FTSE 100 forward, but the index was held back by investors not being convinced by Royal Dutch Shell's strategy update," said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
Shell's 'A' share price slid 1.8 percent to £13.39
Shares in AstraZeneca rose around 0.8 percent after the maker of a Covid vaccine with Oxford University said its net profit more than doubled last year to $3.2 billion (2.64 billion euros) on strong sales of new cancer drugs.
Europe's financial sector was in focus after Germany's second-largest lender Commerzbank confirmed that it plunged into a 2.9-billion-euro ($3.5- billion) net loss in 2020 on pandemic fallout and restructuring costs.
Commerzbank stock fell by 5.8 percent to 5.11 euros in Frankfurt.
On the upside, Volkswagen shares rose 1.0 percent to 182.80 euros after the German auto giant and US tech leader Microsoft revealed a tie-up to develop autonomous vehicle driving systems.
Asian stock markers closed mixed after a strong run-up in recent weeks.
Trade was thinned by holidays in major markets, notably the Chinese New Year, which will see most of the region closed for several days, while Hong Kong shut after a half-session.
Global risk assets have performed well since November following Biden's election win and the authorisation of drugs to fight the virus, while optimism has been given an extra boost in recent weeks as data point to falling infections, deaths and hospitalisations.