US blue-chip stocks held onto gains last night after the US Federal Reserve opted to keep interest rates unchanged at 46-year lows and signalled it was not in a rush to raise borrowing costs with job creation so sluggish.
US Treasury bond prices rallied and reversed early losses after the Fed reiterated its pledge to be patient on hiking rates and took a cautious tone on the jobs outlook.
The Dow Jones industrials were up 81.78 points, or 0.81 per cent, at 10,184.67. The technology-laced Nasdaq Composite Index was down 3.9 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 1,943.10 and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 6.21 points, or 0.56 per cent, at 1,110.70.
The investment banking sector pushed European shares higher, buoyed by BNP Paribas's acquisition of Community First Bank shares in the US and the strong earnings report from Lehman.
The FTSE Eurotop 300 index climbed 0.5 per cent, while Madrid posted its first rise since Thursday's bombings. The benchmark Ibex index rose 1.5 per cent.
Asian markets were less sanguine, still unnerved by security worries ahead of elections in the region. But falls in Japanese exporters were cushioned by optimism over the strength of the country's economy recovery.
The Dublin market was a laggard in the wider context as it fell back by 0.2 per cent on relatively low volume.
"We're down while the rest of the world is up," said one Dublin dealer. "We're just lagging a little bit."
Anticipation of today's St Patrick's Day holiday is likely to have affected trade, with investors using the break to consider their position in nervous markets.
The arrival of Eircom on the market on Friday also acted as a distraction for some, with demand for the telecoms firm reportedly high among institutional and private investors in Ireland.
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