San Francisco Frontiers - Stocks diverge as investors track Fed meeting, eurozone data

The Paris CAC 40 was up around 0.5 percent in afternoon deals after hitting a new intraday high of 7,682.78 points.

The Frankfurt DAX rose 0.2 percent even as data confirmed that Europe's biggest economy, Germany, shrank in the fourth quarter of 2023.

London's FTSE 100 index of blue-chip stocks gained 0.6 percent.

Official figures showed the eurozone economy avoided a technical recession in the second half of 2023.

While it stagnated in the final three months of the year, it was better than forecast by analysts who had expected a small contraction.

The French economy stagnated at the end of the year but Spain, Italy and Portugal posted growth over the same period.

"We are seeing markets react to a rather surprising raft of eurozone growth data that has seen stronger-than-expected Spanish, Italian, and eurozone GDP for the fourth quarter," said Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.

The single-currency area's economy has been hit by many factors including higher interest rates, a cost-of-living crisis hitting households' spending and weakening global demand.

Wall Street was mostly flat after opening slightly lower on the first day of the Fed's two-day policy meeting, with investors also awaiting earnings reports from leading tech companies.

The US central bank is expected to keep borrowing costs unchanged but investors will closely listen to Fed chairman Jerome Powell's press conference for any indications as to when it may start cutting rates.

The Fed hiked rates in efforts to combat inflation, which has slowed but remains about the central bank's two-percent target.

"Investors expect the Fed to cut the rates from May and the dollar to lose value this year. Yet the Fed's path to rate cuts may not be as swift as many believe, if inflation numbers start looking bad again," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote bank.

Focus also will be on earnings, with tech titans Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet due to report after markets close on Tuesday.

Amazon and Apple will publish their results on Thursday, with Facebook and Instagram owner Meta up next on Friday.

In Asia, Hong Kong and Shanghai indices fell heavily as an order to liquidate indebted property developer Evergrande fanned fears about China's fragile economy.

- Key figures around 1455 GMT -

New York - Dow: FLAT at 38,324.98 points

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 7,677.93

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.5 percent at 7,679.96

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 0.2 percent at 16,973.52

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.5 percent at 4,662.25

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.1 percent at 36,065.86 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 2.3 percent at 15,703.45 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.8 percent at 2,830.53 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0851 from $1.0838 on Monday

Euro/pound: UP at 85.63 pence from 85.24 pence

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2679 from $1.2710

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 147.14 yen from 147.48 yen

West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.6 percent at $77.26 per barrel

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 0.2 percent at $82.59 per barrel

burs-lth/kjm

A.Smith--SFF