The mood in markets was subdued as traders awaited the U.S. jobs data later Friday and further developments in Europe in coming days, as optimism over Wednesday's coordinated action by six major central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve and European Central Bank, gave way to caution amid the still-unresolved debt crisis in Europe.
"The confidence boost from central bank action came at a right time, but it won't last unless there is follow up from the politicians in getting the Eurozone's fiscal house in order," said ANZ Bank senior economist Khoon Goh in Wellington. "This makes the Dec. 9 EU leaders summit a key focus for markets. Failure there mean (Wednesday's) coordinated central bank action would only be akin to a sugar pill, and its effects will have worn out by then," he added.
After hitting multiweek highs, many markets consolidated in early trade. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was up 0.3%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.6%, South Korea's Kospi Composite was flat and New Zealand's NZX-50 was off 0.2%.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 21 points in screen trade.
Major exporter stocks took a breather from Thursday's rally with Toyota Motor up 0.3% and Sony down 0.7% in Tokyo, while Hyundai Motor fell 1.8% in Seoul.
Samsung Electronics was off 0.7%, partially hurt by its global tablet war with Apple suffering a setback after Australia's highest court extended a ban on the sale of Samsung's device for at least another week.
In Sydney, banks mostly shrugged off news that Standard & Poor's Ratings Services downgraded all four of Australia's big banks' credit ratings. Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose 1.0% after saying it doesn't expect any material impact on its funding plans, while National Australia Bank tacked on 0.3%.
The euro was steady after rising on news Spain successfully auctioned EUR3.75 billion of government bonds while France also managed to sell EUR4.4 billion worth of debt at relatively lower yields.
Many traders were now focusing on the outcome of a European Union Summit on Dec. 9, where German and French leaders will present plans to better integrate the 17 economies that use the single currency.
The euro was at $1.3477 against the U.S. dollar, from $1.3460 late Thursday in New York. The dollar was at Y77.74 against the yen from Y77.70, while the euro was at Y104.84 from Y104.61.
The Swiss franc was trading in a tight range after dropping on a Bloomberg News report that the Swiss government may consider negative interest rates and other measures to counter currency strength that continues to wreak havoc on the nation's manufacturing sector. The dollar was recently at CHF0.9153, from CHF0.9152.
Spot gold was at $1,741.20 per troy ounce, down $4.10 from its New York settlement on Thursday. Nymex January crude oil futures were down 10 cents at $100.10 per barrel on Globex. For the latest updates on the stock market, visit Stock Market Today For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today
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