Asian stock markets ended mixed, today, as hopes of continued policy support from the Federal Reserve to the US economy lifted sentiment. Japan's Nikkei-225 index rose 1 per cent; South Korea's Kospi index added 0.7 per cent; while Singapore's Straits Times index ended flat. But China's Shanghai Composite index fell 0.3 per cent on profit booking and Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.2 per cent.
 
In Europe, key indices, London's FTSE-100 and Germany's DAX had gained 0.1 per cent, each, while France's CAC-40 had moved up 0.4 per cent, in intra-day trade.
 
In the economic data, the French central bank, today, said, the economy probably contracted 4 per cent in the final quarter of last year from the previous three months. In light of the fourth quarter performance, the Bank of France said it was sticking with a previous estimate that the Euro zone's second-biggest economy shrank 9 per cent over the course of last year.