Shares Hold Near Record High with Powell in Focus, Dollar in The Doldrums

GLOBAL MARKET - LONDON/SYDNEY. World shares steadied on Friday, sitting just 1% shy of all-time highs, while the dollar languished around one-year lows ahead of a speech by the world's most powerful central banker which markets will peruse for guidance on the shape of U.S. rate cuts.

Europe's broad Stoxx 600 index rose 0.14% in early trading, Asian shares outside Japan nudged down 0.1%, but Japan's Nikkei gained 0.4% as investors digested inflation data and remarks from Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda flagging a willingness to raise interest rates if the economy and inflation turn out as forecast.