Awwal 14, 1432 H/Feb 17, 2011, SPA -- Higher than anticipated U.S. jobless claims figures weighed on stocks Thursday, though losses were limited by a raft of forecast-busting corporate earnings, another multi-billion dollar deal and indications the U.S. Federal Reserve is unlikely to alter its super-loose monetary policy, AP reported. Relatively tame U.S. inflation figures, which had been closely watched, had little impact on sentiment but the news that jobless claims spiked by 25,000 in the week to Feb. 12 to 410,000 proved a disappointment. The consensus in the markets was that claims would only rise to 400,000. Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, warned against reading too much into the data, especially in light of the monthly payrolls figures. «A move in one direction by claims doesn't necessarily mean a move in the same direction by payrolls,» Lee said. In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 0.2 percent at 6,072 while France's CAC-40 fell 0.4 percent to 4,135. Germany's DAX index was 0.5 percent lower at 7,381. Wall Street was also poised for a retreat at the open, a day after the Dow Jones industrial average closed at its highest level since June 13, 2008 and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index ended double the level it was at two years ago. Dow futures were down 20 points at 12,232 while the S&P futures were 3.4 points lower at 1,329.60. Before the figures, European stocks and Wall Street futures were more or less unchanged, with many of the world's major indexes trading at their highest levels since the summer of 2008 despite ongoing tensions in the Middle East. Investors have not chosen to cash in on recent gains, partly because of a slew of upbeat earnings this week around the world, including those from Swiss food company Nestle on Thursday. They have also been cheered by the previous day's news that French drug maker Sanofi-Aventis , the world's fourth-largest drug maker, will buy U.S. biotechnology firm Genzyme for $20 billion in cash. A pick up in big deals is one sign of optimism in the markets. Further support was provided by Wednesday's publication of the minutes to the last rate-setting meeting of the Fed. Though, rate-setters were a little more optimistic about the state of the U.S. economic recovery and some voiced the possibility that the current $600 billion monetary injection may have to end sooner than expected, there were few signs that policy will be altered soon. «Unchanged projections for unemployment and core inflation _ the Fed's original dual mandate _ imply no change in the Fed's assessment that both aspects of the mandate will be missed, thus no change in stance, for the moment, on monetary policy,» said Jeremy Batstone-Carr, head of private client research at Charles Stanley stockbrokers. «Clearly, the market will be relieved that the Fed chose not to bite the monetary policy bullet at this meeting,» he added. Inflation figures Thursday are unlikely to fuel concerns at the Fed. The monthly 0.4 percent increase in consumer prices in January was more or less in line with expectations while the core rate, which strips out volatile food and energy costs, was up 1 percent over the year, well down on the Fed's preferred range of closer to Inflation is certainly becoming the hot topic in Europe, with price rises in the eurozone and Britain ahead of their respective banks' targets. Andrew Sentance, perhaps the most hawkish member of the Bank of England's nine-strong rate-setting panel, kept the pressure on his peers to raise interest rates soon. In a speech, Sentance warned that the Bank's inflation projections may be underestimating the true level of price rises and that interest rates will have to rise faster than markets currently anticipate. -- SPA
