European stocks extend gains

LONDON: European stocks rose Wednesday after the new Federal Reserve chief said she would stick with stimulus, but disappointing eurozone data hit the euro.
London's FTSE 100 index climbed 0.16 per cent to 6,683.66 points in afternoon deals, buoyed by the Bank of England ramping up its forecast for Britain's economy to grow by 3.4 per cent.
Markets rallied after Janet Yellen told the US Congress Tuesday she expected to continue predecessor Ben Bernanke's plan to wind down the Fed's bond-buying gradually and keep interest rates low until the jobs market improves significantly.
Meanwhile: Tokyo stocks climbed 0.56 per cent Wednesday, while Sydney jumped 1.06 per cent and Seoul added 20 per cent.
Hong Kong rallied 1.47 per cent and Shanghai advanced 0.30 per cent in value.
Meanwhile:Wall Street opened mixed on Wednesday after having posted gains of over one percent the previous day.
Five minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.01 per cent) to 15,992.71 points, while the broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.11 per cent to 1,821.82 and the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.24 per cent to 4,201.06.
Euro slides, pound climbs
In foreign exchange trading, the European single currency slumped to $1.3567 from $1.3638 late in New York on Tuesday, penalised by data showing that eurozone industrial output fell by 0.7 percent in December, instead of a 0.3-percent drop expected by analysts.
The British pound jumped to 1.2203 euros from 1.2062, and to $1.6553 from $1.6451 after the Bank of England updated its economic forecasts and said it would focus on inflation as guide for when to raise interest rates.
The price of gold rose to $1,286.50 an ounce on the London Bullion Market, from $1,282  Monday.