By Marc Jones
LONDON (Reuters) - The euro and bond yields fell on Thursday and stocks rose as the European Central Bank proceeded with caution with its biggest step yet in unwinding years of loose monetary policy.
The euro skidded almost half a percent to back below $1.18
Moves were then compounded by reports that Janet Yellen was no longer in the running for an extension to her Fed term as Wall Street traders also began to digest a heavy dump of tech earnings firm earnings. (N)
Nasdaq futures (NQc1) pointed to a flat start but those for both the S&P 500 (ESc1) and Dow Jones (1YMc1) were higher as the ECB moves bolstered what was set to be the strongest day in more than six weeks for European stocks. (STOXX) (EU)
The ECB had taken a leaf out of the Fed's book by also promising to keep reinvesting the proceeds from the 2.4 trillion euros worth of bonds it has hoovered up since early 2015.
"Mario Draghi has once again stressed that the ECB will maintain a very gradual approach to its monetary policy, and that short term rates will not rise before well after purchases have been stopped," said Julien-Pierre Nouen, Chief Economic Strategist at Lazard Frères Gestion.
In a pre-ECB appetiser, Sweden and Norway's central banks had both kept their interest rates on hold. Their currencies barely budged, though, as attention remained firmly on the ECB and the euro zone.
European bonds, which like other global fixed income markets have seen a selloff over the last week, rallied. The yield on Germany's 10-year government bond
That was after U.S. Treasury yields (US10YT=RR) had hit a seven-month high of 2.4750 percent overnight. [GVD/EUR]
SOUTH AFRICA SELLOFF
Elsewhere in currencies, Britain's sterling built on strong GDP data boost to hit a 9-day high before the revitalised dollar struck back.
The greenback steadied at 113.840 yen
South Africa's rand
It left the currency down almost 4 percent and heading for its worst week since the sacking of a respected former finance minister in March.
The Canadian dollar also saw a major shift. It was trying to claw back ground, having fallen 1 percent to a three-month low of C$1.2816 per dollar
Among commodities, oil slipped a touch following an unexpected increase in U.S. crude inventories and high U.S. production and exports.
Brent crude (LCOc1) was down 9 cents at $58.36 a barrel by 0900 GMT. The global benchmark is not far below its 26-month high of $59.49 hit in late September. U.S. light crude (CLc1) crept up to $52.22.
Markets have been supported by comments from Saudi Arabia's energy minister earlier this week reiterating the kingdom's determination to end a global supply glut that has weighed on prices for more than three years.
Gold drifted down, having started the session lower but the main metal market mover was aluminium
It reached $2,215 a tonne, the highest since March 2012.
"New price support has emerged in the form of cost inflation," analysts at Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) said.