* Europe's STOXX index up 0.3%
* S&P futures reach another peak, Nikkei lags
* Asian stock markets : https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
* Fed sticking to stimulus, Powell set to speak
* Treasury yields dip, leaving dollar aimless
By Huw Jones
LONDON, April 8 (Reuters) - Stocks in Europe reached record
highs on Thursday, buoyed by optimism in Britain over easing
lockdown restrictions, while a benign outlook for U.S. interest
rates was set to push Wall Street to new heights.
The European STOXX index of leading 600 companies
rose 0.3%, hitting a new high of 436.66 points. London's blue
chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.2%.
"It's looking good as evaluations in Europe are much lower
than they are in the U.S. so there is potentially more upside.
The line of least resistance for European markets is higher,"
said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.
"In terms of economic re-opening, there is enough optimism
built in at the moment to drive markets quite a bit higher from
here, and the Fed has reiterated it's going to remain on hold
for a while," Hewson said.
Minutes of the Federal Reserve's last policy meeting,
published on Wednesday, showed members felt the economy was
still far short of target and were in no rush to scale back
their $120 billion a month of bond buying.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell speaks at an International
Monetary Fund event later on Thursday and is likely to reiterate
the dovish outlook.
The European Central Bank was due to publish accounts for
its March 11 policy meeting amid debate about when it should
start tapering its pandemic stimulus, with the euro area
recovery still in doubt.
Wall Street was also set to reach fresh peaks on Thursday
with e-mini futures on the S&P 500 rising 0.25% after
rising to a record high, and Nasdaq futures up 0.7%
Gains by U.S. Treasuries also helped, although
analysts said markets will be tested next week when the U.S.
earnings seasons gets underway.
In Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares
outside Japan inched up 0.3% in quiet trade.
Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.3%, not helped by news Tokyo's
governor had asked for emergency measures to stem a surge of
COVID-19 infections.
Yields on 10-year Treasuries have eased back
to 1.669% from the recent 14-month high of 1.776%, but have
struggled to break under 1.59%.
The decline coincided with a dip in the dollar index to
92.360 from its recent five-month high at 93.439.
The euro was steady at $1.1871, after rising as high
as $1.1914 overnight following a surprisingly upbeat survey of
European Union business activity.
In commodity markets, gold was at $1,743 an ounce
after meeting resistance around $1,745.
Oil prices fell after official figures showed a big
increase in U.S. gasoline stockpiles, causing concerns about
demand for crude weakening in the world's biggest consumer of
the resource at a time when supplies around the world are
rising.
Brent fell 22 cents to $62.94 a barrel. U.S. crude
lost 37 cents to $59.40 per barrel.
(Aditional reporting by Wayne Cole and Chibuike Oguh; editing
by Larry King)
Astrazeneca (AZN)
