Global shares extend rally, euro firm before ECB m

Global shares extend rally, euro firm before ECB m
eets(Reuters) - World share markets extended their rally on Wednesday as investors focused on the good news in a mixed bag of global economic data. The safe-haven yen fell to a 10-week low.
Trading was still cautious before Thursday's meeting of the European Central Bank and Friday's U.S. jobs numbers. Either could move markets significantly.
Europe's main stocks markets .FTSE .FCHI .GDAXI climbed to near a one-month high, heading towards a seventh straight day of gains for the first time in six months. Greek and Portuguese bonds reached post-euro-crisis highs.
Investors have been speculating the European Central Bank will soon loosen policy, though official messages are mixed.
On Tuesday, ECB Vice President Vitor Constancio told a news conference that low inflation was a concern but denied deflation was a threat. That was taken to mean the chances the central bank would move on Thursday were low.
The euro got a modest lift and was around $1.3810 at 0800 GMT. That was a shade higher than it had been at the last ECB meeting, a fact that won't have gone unnoticed at the bank, which has cited the euro as one reason it might cut rates again.
"All the money that ran away at the height of the crisis is now coming back in, and that flow, as well as driving this periphery rally, is keeping the euro high," said Aberdeen Asset Management fixed income and FX strategist Luke Bartholomew. "We are short the euro, long the periphery, but it's incredibly frustrating being short the euro at the moment."