Stocks rise as Donald Trump takes over

Wall Street climbed Friday before Donald Trump's inauguration, while European indices drifted with markets hoping that the US president's speech will expand on his planned economic policy.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 was the odd man out, dipping 0.1 percent, while Frankfurt's DAX 30 index won 0.3 percent and the Paris CAC 40 gained 0.2 percent.

On Wall Street, the Dow was up 0.5 percent in late morning trading as the inauguration ceremony got underway.

"In focus today will be the inauguration of Donald Trump... with investors hoping that his speech comprehensively outlines his policy plans for the next four years," said Accendo Markets analyst Mike van Dulken.

"Financial deregulation, infrastructure spending and tax reforms will be the key policy topics markets will be hoping receive some dedicated airtime."

While he promised a big-spending, tax-cutting drive to fuel the world's top economy, the tycoon has failed to provide details, leading to worries about his ability to deliver.

"With the inauguration of Donald Trump as US President only a matter of minutes away the appetite to take on new exposure over the weekend appears to be somewhat limited," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.

"European share markets have struggled for direction today at the end of a lacklustre week for stocks in general," he added, noting the FTSE 100 was on course to post its worst weekly performance since October last year.

The dollar meanwhile recovered, having slipped after Federal Reserve boss Janet Yellen this week indicated that the US central bank would take a wait-and-see approach to monetary policy, suggesting the rhythm of any rate hikes this year could be slow.

The dollar has soared since November on bets Trump's fiscal policies would fan inflation and force the Fed to raise borrowing costs.

- Chinese growth -

Ahead of Trump's big day, stocks won support from data showing that China's economy enjoyed its first growth pick-up in two years.

The Chinese economy expanded by 6.8 percent in the final quarter of last year, the first improvement since the end of 2014, figures released Friday showed.

While China's National Bureau of Statistics welcomed the data, it stressed that "the domestic and external conditions are still complicated and severe".

Elsewhere on Friday, the pound slid after official data showed British retail sales unexpectedly slumped 1.9 percent in December from the previous month, fuelling worries over Brexit.

"Sterling is taking a pasting after a pretty shoddy set of retail sales figures for December," noted ETX Capital senior market analyst Neil Wilson.

"The pound... dived below $1.23 immediately following the... numbers, which showed the fastest pace of sales decline in five years."

Sterling has endured a volatile week, slumping to three-month low points before and after British Prime Minister Theresa May fleshed out her plans for Britain exiting the European Union.

- Key figures around 1635 GMT -

London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.1 percent at 7,198.44 points (close)

Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 0.3 percent at 11,630.13 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 4,850.67 (close)

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.2 percent at 3,297.71

New York - Dow: UP 0.5 percent at 19,823.22

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 19,137.91 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 3,123.14 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 0.7 percent at 22,885.91 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0678 from $1.0665

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2328 from $1.2338

Dollar/yen: UP at 115.06 yen from 114.84 yen

Oil - West Texas Intermediate: UP $1.32 at $53.44 per barrel

Oil - Brent North Sea: UP $1.41 at $55.57