Markets rose on Wednesday.
The S&P 500 added just 0.2 percent but that was enough to bring it to a new record high. The STOXX Europe 600 rose 0.1 percent.
Markets rose despite relatively downbeat economic data on Wednesday.
The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday said that it expects the US economy to grow 1.7 percent in 2014, down from its June forecast for 2.0 percent growth. It expects growth to accelerate to 3 percent next year and in 2016.
In the euro area, the European Commission's consumer confidence index for the region fell to minus 8.4 in July from minus 7.5 in June.
These data did not dissuade the Reserve Bank of New Zealand from hiking interest rates for the fourth time since March. On Thursday, the RBNZ raised its official cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.5 percent.
However, there is likely to be a pause before further rate hikes.
“It is prudent that there now be a period of assessment before interest rates adjust further toward a more-neutral level,” RBNZ Governor Graeme Wheeler said in a statement in Wellington. “The level of the New Zealand dollar is unjustified and unsustainable and there is potential for a significant fall.”
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