World stock News - World Shares Rose

World stocks on course for best month in four years

World shares rose on Friday and were on course for their best month in four years, led by Europe's best month in over six years, as global central banks kept stimulus policies intact and many hinted at further steps to reenergize their economies.

That has helped soothe concern over higher borrowing costs in the United States as the Federal Reserve prepares to tighten rates, possibly by the end of the year.

Corporate earnings also boosted sentiment, with results from France's Renault (RENA.PA), BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) and Airbus (AIR.PA) in particular getting the thumbs up from investors.

In early trade, the pan-European index of leading 300 shares was up 0.2 percent at 1,487 points .FTEU3, putting it on course for a rise of 8.5 percent over the course of October. That would be its best month since July 2009.

France's CAC 40 .FCHI and Germany's DAX .GDAXI were both up 0.4 percent, while Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE was flat as investors reacted negatively to earnings from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) and British Airways operator IAG (ICAG.L).

The dollar slipped for a second day, notably against the yen after the Bank of Japan left policy unchanged. Government bond yields also slipped back after two days of Fed-fueled increases.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was down 0.1 percent but poised to gain more than 7 percent for October, its best showing since January 2012.

Japan's Nikkei stock index .N225 ended up 0.8 percent, its highest in more than two months, buoyed by a media report that the government is considering a supplementary budget of over $25 billion.