(MENAFN- AFP) European stocks traded mixed on Thursday as investors balanced prospects for stimulus measures in China and the eurozone against weak oil prices.
Wall Street moved sharply higher after an upbeat US retail sales report that helped counter a sell-off the previous day that began with oil-linked stocks.
London's benchmark FTSE 100 index ended the day down 0.59 percent at 6,464.7 points and in Paris the CAC 40 edged 0.05 percent lower to 4,225.86 points, while in Frankfurt the DAX 30 climbed 0.64 percent to 9,862.53.
Milan dipped 0.09 percent and Madrid added 0.34 percent.
World oil prices, which have pulled down stocks this week as they near $60 a barrel, a drop of more than 40 percent in the past six months, steadied meanwhile.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery dipped 2 cents to $60.92, having hit a new five-year low of $60.09 earlier in the day.
Brent crude for January was up 34 cents at $64.58 in late London trade, having hit a five-year trough of $63.56 the day before when OPEC cut its forecast for demand in 2015 and US stockpiles saw a surprise surge.
"Going forward I expect heavy oil prices to continue to weigh on any rallies in the stock markets, with oil stocks having further to fall," noted Alpari analyst Craig Erlam.
The sliding oil prices have also hurt Russia, with the central bank forced to jack up rates again by one percentage point to 10.5 percent to shore up the ruble. But the Russian currency swiftly touched a record low of 55.45 against the dollar and 68.98 against the euro.
- QE hopes -
Sentiment was lifted somewhat after China's central bank stepped up efforts to pump more cash into its banking system with a $65-billion fund injection, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
The People's Bank of China (PBoC) on Wednesday injected around 400 billion yuan into the interbank market where banks borrow from each other, Dow said, citing people familiar with the matter.
The latest injection has not been made public by the PBoC for fear that the market might read it as a strong signal of a broad monetary easing.
Across in Frankfurt, the ECB announced it had pumped more liquidity into the financial system in a bid to boost the eurozone economy -- but analysts said the uptake was disappointing and stoked hopes of quantitative easing (QE) stimulus.
The Frankfurt-based central bank said that 306 banks had borrowed 129.8 billion euros ($162 billion) in the second round of its lending programme of cheap, long-term loans aimed at boosting the economy.
Most analysts had forecast an uptake of around 150 billion euros under the Targeted Long-Term Refinancing Operation (TLTRO), which banks must repay by September 2018.
"The prospect of quantitative easing from the ECB, after the disappointing TLTRO take-up, is also supporting the markets today and are likely to continue to do so," added Erlam.
By pumping more liquidity into the financial system, the Frankfurt-based central bank aims to boost the eurozone economy via private-sector loans and, in turn, halt a stubborn drop in inflation.
The prospect of more stimulus led to the euro losing ground against the dollar, which was reinvigorated by strong US data. The euro slid to $1.2405 from $1.2446 late on Wednesday.
The euro also slipped to 78.88 British pence from 79.21 late on Wednesday in New York. The British pound climbed to $1.5724 from $1.5712.
On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold declined to $1,216.25 an ounce from $1,229 late on Wednesday.
Wall Street was up sharply in midday trading Thursday following Commerce Department data showing US retail sales in November, the beginning of the holiday shopping season, rose by a solid 0.7 percent from the previous month to $449.3 billion.
Retailers have been hoping for a strong holiday season in light of lower gasoline prices and an improving employment outlook.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.20 percent to 17,743.79 points, while the broad-based S&P 500 had climbed 1.35 percent to 2,053.48 points and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.56 percent to 4,757.01 points.
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