Shares stay soft as ECB raises rates

By Natsuko Waki LONDON (Reuters) - A global sell-off knocked world shares to a five-month low on Thursday as surging oil fanned concerns about inflation and slowing growth with investors looking ahead to a key U.S. jobs report. The European Central Bank became the first G7 central bank to raise interest rates since the credit crisis erupted last August, raising the euro zone’s benchmark cost of borrowing to 4.25 percent. Investors are keen to hear if more rate rises are in the pipeline from ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet who gives a news conference at 1:30 p.m. British time, the same time U.S. non-farm payrolls are released. "We are now waiting for Trichet... if he talks about further upside risks to inflation then everybody will assume that further rate hikes are possible," said Tom Vosa, head of market economics at... [read full story]