World stock markets traded in the narrowest of bands Wednesday tracking inflation fallout, as traders weighed economic growth and price growth prospects as countries come out of lockdown. Wall Street opened cautiously, with the Dow Jones index creeping ahead some 0.2 percent some two hours into trading while the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.4 percent. Asia's main stock markets closed with modest gains and European markets likewise struggled to stay out of the red with London and Paris flat and Frankfurt slightly down. Amazon was up 0.9 percent after extending its push into entertainment by agreeing to buy the storied MGM studios for $8.45 billion. The deal gives the US tech giant a vast library to further its ambitions in streaming, bolstering Amazon Prime Video, which competes with Netflix and others in a fast-evolving market. After rallying for more than a year, equities have recently been jolted by fears that a forecast surge in economic activity -- fuelled by reopenings, stimulus and vaccinations -- will send prices soaring and force central banks to wind back their ultra-loose monetary policies sooner than flagged. A succession of US Federal Reserve officials have insisted that while the rebound will likely fan inflation, it will not last long and the central bank will not step back from its supportive measures -- including record low interest rates -- for the foreseeable future. Those pledges were for a time brushed aside by traders who feared the Fed is in danger of moving too late, with explosive inflation data last month adding to their unease. However, analysts said the concerns may be subsiding, as the latest drive to soothe concerns by high-ranking Fed members appeared to be bearing fruit. The yield of long-term US Treasuries, a key gauge of future interest rates, has stabilised after their recent sharp increase set off alarm bells. Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst with ThinkMarkets, judged sentiment "positive as the Fed and other central banks continue to keep their asset buying programmes running at record pace just as some of the major global economies are emerging impressively from the impact of the pandemic." "Inflationistas look like they might be ready to throw in the towel," said Edward Moya, analyst at Oanda trading group as "the majority of Wall Street believes" price pressures are transitory. Still, investor optimism continues to be kept in check by worries about a spike in infections around Asia's top economies including, among others, India, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand, with vaccination rates worryingly low. Elsewhere Wednesday, bitcoin briefly bounced back above, then fell below the $40,000 barrier after a bout of recent volatility, fuelled by China's warning of a crackdown on cryptocurrency use and mining as well as various tweets by tycoon Elon Musk. After sliding just off $39,000 it remains well below its record high of close to $65,000, touched just over a month ago. By contrast gold was trading at four-month highs above $1,900 an ounce as precious metals enjoyed a strong session. New York - Dow: UP 0.2 percent at 34,374.80 points London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 7,026.93 (close) Paris - CAC 40: FLAT at 6,391.60 (close) Frankfurt - DAX 30: DOWN 0.1 percent at 15,450.72 (close) EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.1 percent at 4,030.82 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.3 percent at 28,642.19 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.9 percent at 29,166.01 (close) Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.3 percent at 3,593.36 (close) Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.2202 from $1.2253 at 2130 GMT Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.4117 from $1.4151 Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.43 pence from 86.59 pence Dollar/yen: UP at 109.12 from 108.76 yen Brent North Sea crude: UP 0.2 percent at $68.84 per barrel West Texas Intermediate: UP 0.3 percent at $66.26 per barrel dan-bcp/rfj/cdw/tgb