BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - French stocks were modestly higher on Friday as shock from a surprisingly strong U.S. inflation reading ebbed.
Analysts say that the current wave of price spikes due to chronic worldwide supply constraints would not last long and inflationary pressure will eventually ease, rather than strengthen.
The dollar climbed for a third day and headed for its best week in almost five months against major peers amid bets for earlier Federal Reserve interest rate hikes.
Short-dated U.S. Treasury yields edged higher as traders price in two rate hikes next year - a first rate increase by July and a high likelihood of another by November.
Closer home, the European Central Bank appears unlikely to change its extremely dovish policy settings in the near term against a backdrop of a slowing economy.
The benchmark CAC 40 index was up 17 points, or 0.3 percent, at 7,077 after closing 0.2 percent higher on Thursday.
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