Wall Street poised for fresh records Friday 16:40 GMT. Wall Street is on track to finish the week in record territory, helping European bourses finish the week on a positive note after inheriting a mixed session in Asia. The dollar index is 0.2 per cent softer, gold a bit stronger, while Treasury yields are nudging higher as industrial commodity prices edge up. US financial markets were shut for Thanksgiving on Thursday and the New York Stock Exchange will be open for just half a day on Friday, meaning volume is light as desks are thinly manned. Still, the S&P 500 is continuing its trundle higher, buoyed by optimism about the holiday shopping season. The index is up 4 points to 1,811, and on course to end the week at a fresh record having risen 27 per cent in 2013. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 rose a provisional 0.1 per cent after the FTSE Asia Pacific index climbed 0.1 per cent, leaving the FTSE All-World up 0.2 per cent at its best levels since Christmas 2007. There are a few negative outliers. However, core consumer price inflation data for October - which excludes fresh food but includes energy - hit 0.9 per cent year-on-year growth for the month, up from the 0.7 per cent recorded in September. The dollar rose to Y102.60 early in the Asian session but the yen has pared those losses to trade a shade higher at Y102.40. However, Derek Halpenny, analyst at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi argued that the data from Japan "certainly support that [recent] yen selling momentum," which is good news for those investors using the Japanese unit as a funding tool for "carry trades," a strategy deemed reflective of the market's general bullishness. Other currencies in focus include the euro. The single currency is flat at $1.3608 as investors absorb data showing low inflation persisting in the eurozone. S&P's divergent call on the credit ratings of the Netherlands and Spain appear to have had little impact, though "haven" German Bunds are outperforming their peers, with yields ending flat at 1.70 per cent. The Australian dollar is pulling away from a three-month low, currently up 0.3 per cent to US$0.9124 after the nation's government rejected a multibillion-dollar bid for Graincorp, the agricultural group, while miner Rio Tinto revealed further cost-cutting measures that heightened concerns over the health of the country's mining sector. The resource-sensitive bourse was not helped by a mixed performance by industrial commodities - though they have since firmed somewhat. Copper is up 1.5 per cent to $3.25 a pound and Brent crude is adding 11 cents to $110.97 a barrel. Gold is up $9 to $1,252 an ounce, but only about 1 per cent above its four-month closing low. The benchmark US 10-year yield is up 2 basis points to 2.76 per cent, nudged higher of late by expectations that better recent US economic data may bring forward when the US Federal Reserve starts trimming its $85bn-a-month stimulus programme. The prospect of reduced Fed largesse has been weighing on many emerging markets assets in recent months as investors think higher US interest rates and less liquidity will make funds harder to come by. In official trading the rupiah was firmer by 0.3 per cent to Rps11,955.