Eurozone stocks shoot higher as ECB keeps stimulus spigot open

Eurozone stocks swept higher and the euro sank Thursday following the European Central Bank's long-telegraphed announcement that it would soon begin to taper its monetary stimulus plan. The news came amid a torrent of US corporate earnings reports that left Wall Street mostly higher. From January, the ECB said it will reduce its purchases of government and corporate bonds to 30 billion euros ($35 billion) a month, from 60 billion at present -- in line with analysts' expectations. Policymakers left themselves a nine-month horizon to decide on the next step for the program, with a move due by September 2018. ECB chief Mario Draghi said the eurozone economy still relied on "an ample degree" of stimulus in the face of sluggish inflation. Eurozone equities pushed higher after the announcement, with Frankfurt striking a record high during the session and closing the day up 1.4 percent. Paris jumped 1.5 percent. But the euro fell 1.4 percent against the dollar. While Draghi's presentation "was exactly what most economists anticipate, it was slightly less than what some euro bulls may have hoped for," said Kathy Lien of BK Asset Management. "Draghi made it clear that rates won't be increased anytime soon." Analyst David Madden at CMC Markets UK noted that Draghi clearly indicated Thursday the ECB was acting cautiously, and could increase stimulus if necessary. "Traders took this as an indication that their monetary policy will remain loose, and use the weakness in the euro as a reason to snap up eurozone stocks," he said in a note to clients. Madrid also pushed higher despite rising uncertainty in Spain. On Thursday, Catalonia's secessionist leader opted not to call regional elections, which had been seen as a way to ease Spain's worst political crisis in decades and avoid a drastic move by Madrid to seize control of the semi-autonomous region. In the US, meanwhile, both the Dow and S&P 500 finished higher after President Donald Trump's proposed tax changes passed a hurdle in the House of Representatives, which approved a budget resolution that opens the way for $1.5 trillion in tax cuts. Investors have also been cheered by mostly solid earnings reports, with Ford, Twitter and UPS all rising after results. The good results continued after the market closed, with Amazon, Microsoft and Google parent Alphabet all sharply higher following reports released after the closing bell. - Key figures around 2100 GMT - New York - DOW: UP 0.3 percent at 23,400.86 (close) New York - S&P 500: UP 0.1 percent at 2,560.40 (close) New York - Nasdaq: DOWN 0.1 percent at 6,556.77 (close) London - FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent at 7,486.50 points (close) Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 1.4 percent at 13,133.28 (close) Paris - CAC 40: UP 1.5 percent at 5,455.40 (close) Madrid - IBEX 35: UP 1.9 percent at 10,347.8 (close) EURO STOXX 50: UP 1.4 percent at 3,639.79 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.2 percent at 21,739.78 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 0.4 percent at 28,202.38 (close) Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 3,407.57 (close) Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1652 from $1.1813 at 2100 GMT Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3160 from $1.3257 Dollar/yen: UP at 114.00 yen from 113.78 yen Oil - West Texas Intermediate: UP 46 cents at $52.64 per barrel Oil - Brent North Sea: UP 86 cents at $59.30 per barrel burs-jmb/wd/