LONDON: European and US stocks faltered Thursday as investors paused following this week's sharp global rally and on the eve of a key US jobs report.
Asia equities, however, rose, buoyed by overnight gains on Wall Street and expectations of more Chinese economy-boosting measures after Beijing cut its reserve requirement for banks early in the week.
US shares failed at the opening to hold on to gains notched up in the last two sessions though, as European bourses also dipped slightly.
France's CAC led its British and German counterparts in negative territory in mid-afternoon trading, at 0.45 percent off, while the DAX and FTSE were only just in the red.
Global markets have enjoyed a bumper rally this week as investors ploughed back into equities, which are traditionally deemed a risky investment.
Sentiment has been boosted by the fresh Chinese stimulus, steadier commodity prices, bright US economic data and hopes of more monetary policy action from the European Central Bank.
Thoughts have turned to Friday's release of critical unemployment data and next week's ECB gathering, said Nick Stamenkovic, strategist at RIA Capital Markets in London.
"Risk markets are taking a pause for breath after the recent rally as investors nervously await tomorrow's key US employment report and next week's crucial ECB meeting," Stamenkovic told AFP.
"Fading fears of a US recession, rising oil prices and dovish central bank comments have all contributed to the recent improvement in risk appetite."
The ECB reconvenes next Thursday for a hotly-anticipated gathering.
"As far as the eurozone is concerned, it's the idea we might see more ECB stimulus that is helping drive markets higher," said TrustNet analyst Tony Cross.
Asian markets mostly rose, with energy firms big winners thanks to a slight recovery in crude prices.
Shanghai advanced for a third straight day as traders also bet on China's leadership unveiling fresh stimulus when it starts a key policy meeting this weekend.
After a nerve-shattering start to the year that saw trillions of dollars wiped off valuations, there are hopes that markets have found some stability.
Confidence has also been given a lift from positive US jobs data on Wednesday and ongoing talk of a deal between Saudi Arabia and other key producers on limiting oil output to shore up prices.
"Markets have moved up a lot. Therefore what we are seeing today -- where momentum is slowing down and markets are coming off a bit -- is nothing unusual, especially with tomorrow the very important US non-farm payrolls being released and the eagerly-awaited ECB meeting only one week away," said analyst Markus Huber at traders City Of London Markets.
"Even with overall sentiment looking a lot brighter than just a few weeks ago -- mainly because of better-than-expected US economic data -- at this stage more good data will be needed for markets to be able to move higher," Huber told AFP.
Payrolls firm ADP said Wednesday that the US private sector added 214,000 jobs in February, better than the 190,000 expected.
The news provided some reassurance following weeks of worry that the world's top economy may not be as strong as originally thought.
In Asia on Thursday, Tokyo ended up 1.3 percent, Shanghai gained 0.4 percent and Sydney 1.2 percent.
However, after a two-day surge of about 4.5 percent, Hong Kong retreated 0.3 percent.
Traders are also keeping watch on Beijing where the government Saturday heads into the National People's Congress which is due to sign off on a new five-year economic plan.
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