London (AFP) - Europe's equities pushed higher Wednesday as the European Central Bank pledged to ease the stress in volatile eurozone bond markets, while investors also braced for a major US rate hike.
Frankfurt, London and Paris stocks rallied, as investors were reassured by news of an emergency ECB meeting.
All three main indices had slid Tuesday, joining a global slide in equities on growing expectations that the US Federal Reserve will move aggressively to combat inflation at the conclusion of its latest scheduled monetary policy meeting on Wednesday.
Bitcoin extended this week's precipitous slide to approach the key level of $20,000 as investors continued to shun risky crypto assets, while oil prices retreated further on lower energy demand expectations.
ECB move 'somewhat underwhelming'
The ECB said after its surprise meeting that it would use "flexibility" to ease stress on in sovereign debt markets and design a new instrument to ward off a fresh crisis in the eurozone.
The borrowing costs of some eurozone countries have risen faster than those of others as the ECB tightens its monetary policy.The bank has vowed to prevent such "fragmentation" which occured during the eurozone debt crisis a decade ago.
The yield on 10-year Italian bonds fell on Wednesday.
The euro rose against the dollar before giving up gains after the ECB announcement.
Markets.com analyst Neil Wilson called the announcement "somewhat underwhelming" and did not merit a special meeting.
Earlier, Wilson had said the emergency meeting "smacks of panic and a lack of control -- but the market is happy to see it happen".
The ECB is due to raise eurozone interest rates and end its massive bond-buying stimulus programme in July.
Asian stock markets closed mixed Wednesday with investors on edge over a looming Fed decision that has taken on greater significance since forecast-busting US inflation recently sent shockwaves through world markets.
Wall Street opened higher, with the Dow climbing 0.8 percent.
Traders' screens were awash with red at the start of the week after data on Friday revealed that US consumer prices had soared at the fastest pace in four decades.
That confounded hopes that US inflation was stabilising and intensified pressure on policymakers to act.
The news ramped up bets that the Fed would hike interest rates at a steeper and faster pace than expected as it struggles to retain credibility.
Before Friday's data, the Fed had been tipped to lift borrowing costs by half a point at Wednesday's meeting, but investors are now widely anticipating a three-quarter point increase, with some even suggesting one percentage point.
The moves fuelled worries that the tighter monetary conditions will deal a blow to the US economy and potentially send it into recession next year.
"There is no shortage of pessimism in the market and traders are on the edge as they know that central banks have made the biggest blunder by calling inflation transitory -- and their current policy is going to cause a great deal of pain," AvaTrade analyst Naeem Aslam told AFP.
Key figures at around 1330 GMT
London - FTSE 100: UP 1.4 percent at 7,285.30 points
Frankfurt - DAX: UP 1.6 percent at 13,515.84
Paris - CAC 40: UP 1.4 percent at 6,035.77
EURO STOXX 50: UP 1.2 percent at 3,447.02
New York - Dow: UP 0.8 percent at 30,595.77
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.1 percent at 26,326.16 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.1 percent at 21,308.21 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,305.41 (close)
Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0415 from $1.0416 late Tuesday
Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2067 from $1.1997
Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.34 pence from 86.83 pence
Dollar/yen: DOWN at 134.71 yen from 135.47 yen
Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.5 percent at $120.58 per barrel
West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.6 percent at $118.20 per barrel
