Global stock markets headed in different directions

London, Feb 23 (AFP/APP): Global stock markets headed in different directions Tuesday, with inflation worries offsetting optimism over reopened economies, traders said.

Bitcoin meanwhile came off the boil following critical comments by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin. After most Asian markets posted gains, European indices were mixed, with Frankfurt’s DAX 30 giving up 0.7 percent. January’s eurozone inflation was confirmed at 0.9 percent compared with minus 0.3 percent in December, official data showed, adding to concerns that price increases are picking up momentum. London’s benchmark FTSE 100 stocks index added 0.2 percent however, a day after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson unfolded a roadmap out of UK’s coronavirus lockdown from March.

But British unemployment is now near a five-year high at 5.1 percent, and could surge further after the government ends the furlough support scheme keeping millions of workers in jobs during the lockdown. On foreign exchange markets, the pound traded near a three-year high against the dollar. Bitcoin stumbled in its record-breaking run, falling to around $47,600 after Yellen pilloried the virtual currency as an inefficient means of payment that consumed a vast amount of energy per transaction.