NEW YORK: Stocks on major world markets hit a three week high Thursday, heading for a quarterly gain of 4.0 percent, while the euro rose after the European Central Bank failed to help troubled Irish banks.
Shares on Wall Street opened little changed though as U.S. weekly claims for new jobless benefits fell less than expected, indicating that Friday's monthly employment report from the government may disappoint.
"We're just not at the kind of pace we need in order to get get employment back to normalized levels," said Michael Mullaney, portfolio manager at Fudiciary Trust Co in Boston.
World stocks, as measured by MSCI All-Country World Index, advanced 0.3 percent, on track for a 4.0 percent gain for the first quarter, the third straight quarterly rise.
MSCI emerging markets index rose for the third day, up almost 1.0 percent and were on track to gain 1.6 percent for the first quarter, recovering losses from earlier this year when investors shifted their money to developed market equities on concerns over inflation in developing countries.
U.S. stocks' key Dow Jones industrial average was up 6.36 points, or 0.05 percent, at 12,356.97. But the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 0.29 points, or 0.02 percent, at 1,327.97. The Nasdaq Composite Index was also down, losing 0.68 points, or 0.02 percent, to stand at 2,776.11.
"(Jobless) claims are going in the right direction, and that gives us hope that we'll see a good employment number tomorrow," said Jerry Harris, president of asset management at Sterne Agee in Birmingham, Alabama.
The week has been marked by some of the year's lowest volumes as traders opt to ride the quarter's gainers amid global risks. The S&P 500 is up 5.6 percent in the quarter, based on Wednesday's close.
Stocks on Wall Street also contended with slightly negative news from investment group Berkshire Hathaway.
David Sokol, the man widely seen as the leading successor to Warren Buffett to head up Berkshire Hathaway, resigned after buying shares in chemical company Lubrizol Corp before pushing Buffett to acquire it.
In an interview on CNBC, Sokol said he did nothing wrong in buying the shares.
Microsoft Corp stepped up its rivalry with Google
Inc on Thursday by filing a formal complaint with the European Commission, claiming Google systematically thwarts Internet search competition.
EURO ZONE DEBT CRISIS INTENSIFIES
The euro zone debt crisis intensified with news of Portugal's troubles and ahead of the publication of Irish bank stress tests.
Portugal's budget deficit reached 8.6 percent of gross
domestic product in 2010, above a target of 7.3 percent agreed with Brussels, statistics agency INE said on Thursday.
The yield premium that investors demand to hold Portuguese rather than benchmark German bonds rose to 508 basis points, 12 bps wider on the day, as the country's 10-year yields hit a fresh euro lifetime high of 8.476 percent.
Despite the debt crisis, the European Central Bank has signalled it could raise its benchmark interest rate next week to curb inflation, a message that has kept the euro strong against other currencies.
The yen fell to a fresh 10-month low versus the euro and touched a three-week trough against the U.S. dollar as expectations grew that Japan would lag the euro zone and U.S. central banks in raising interest rates. So far this year, the euro has risen nearly 8.0 percent against the yen.
CRUDE OIL UP 2.0 PCT
In commodity markets, London's Brent crude was on its way to becoming the best performing asset for the quarter with a quarterly gain of 24 percent -- its highest in almost two years. Crude oil prices jumped about 2.0 percent in both London and New York on Thursday as traders made a final aggressive push for profit before the quarter-end, after more
than a week of lethargic trading.
In the bond market, U.S. Treasuries prices rose on the slightly disappointing jobless claims data. There was some flight-to-safety bid also as Portuguese government bond yields hit fresh euro lifetime highs as the country missed a budget target after another credit ratings downgrade.
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