European Shares Set For Steady Open

European stocks are seen opening on a positive note Thursday after the S&P 500 set a closing record overnight. Asian markets were mostly higher, led by mainland China and Hong Kong. Japan\'s Nikkei index fell over 1 percent as several heavyweight stocks traded ex-dividend and investors closely monitored fluctuates in the yen. Japan\'s three main...

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Australia Retail Sales Rise In February

Australia\'s retail sales expanded in February as Taylor Swift concerts lifted spending on clothing, merchandise, accessories and dining out, the Australia Bureau of Statistics said Thursday. Retail sales increased 0.3 percent in February, following a 1.1 percent rise in January and a fall of 2.1 percent in December. Sales were forecast to climb 0.4 percent....

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DAX Little Changed As Retail Sales Decline

German stocks were little changed on Thursday after retail sales posted an unexpected decline in February, Data from Destatis revealed that Germany\'s retail sales decreased 1.9 percent from January, confounding expectations for an increase of 0.3 percent. On a yearly basis, retail sales decreased 2.7 percent in real terms, worse than economists\' forecast of 0.8...

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CAC 40 Inches Higher In Cautious Trade

French stocks crept higher in cautious trade on Thursday ahead of a long Easter holiday weekend. Major European markets will be shut for two days on Friday and Monday to celebrate Easter. The benchmark CAC 40 was up 21 points, or 0.3 percent, at 8,226 after gaining 0.3 percent the previous day. A decline in...

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FTSE 100 Gains After GDP Data

U.K. stocks traded higher on Thursday while the British pound edged lower against peers after data showed the U.K. economy contracted in the fourth quarter, as initially estimated. Gross domestic product fell by unrevised 0.3 percent after a 0.1 percent drop in the third quarter, according to final data from the Office for National Statistics....

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