Economic Outlook: Driving forward

NEW YORK, March 13 (UPI) -- Markets in Asia, Europe and North America were poised to push three days of gains forward to a fourth day Friday, pulling U.S. stocks from 12-year lows.

The Nikkei index in Japan jumped 5.2 percent Friday, bolstered by U.S. markets which made sharp gains Tuesday and Thursday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 4.37 percent, while the Singapore Straits Times gained 5.62 percent. In India, the Sensex was 4 percent ahead, although the Kospi index in South Korea slipped 0.2 percent after the Bank of Korea said Thursday it would keep key lending rates stable at 2 percent, leaving room for cuts in the future.

The BOK had lowered rates for six consecutive months but held back on a cautionary note. "It highly likely that economic growth will sharply fall," BOK Gov. Lee Seong-tae said. "The economic downturn is expected to be longer and deeper than previously anticipated," he said.

But, gains Friday extended to Europe and futures in U.S. markets pointed north. The FTSE 100 in London was up 1.67 percent, while the CAC 40 in Paris gained 1.78 percent and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt gained 0.97 percent. The broader DJStoxx 600 index climbed 1.73 percent.

But three, going on four days, of good news wasn't wholly convincing after four months of stock losses in a recession that began in the United States 15 months ago.

"People will be a bit scared going into tonight," Ric Klusman, a senior institutional trader at Aequs Securities told The Wall Street Journal. "Whether we keep going up early next week, I'm doubtful, although I do think we are looking a lot healthier."

News has been relatively mixed through the week, as investors scour data looking for the definitive low point in the trench that promises steady gains ahead. U.S. retail figures announced Thursday came in ahead of expectations with a drop of 0.1 percent, which turned into a 0.7 percent gain if automobile sales were excluded from the data. U.S. jobless claims added 9,000 in the week, a negative that was less negative than most weeks recently.

On the political front, U.S. President Barack Obama signaled a willingness to lower the 35 percent corporate income tax rate as a trade-off for closing down business-tax loopholes.

"That's a very appealing conversation to me, and I'd like to pursue it," the president told chief executive officers at in a Business Roundtable discussion Thursday, the Journal reported.