Traders working on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange yesterday.
NEW YORK: Global equity markets resumed their recent upward trend yesterday, boosted by signs of growth in Chinese manufacturing, while the euro rose to a fresh two-year peak against the dollar.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 index was on track for its tenth gain in the past 12 sessions as expectations for steady accommodative monetary policy for the foreseeable future offset a mixed batch of earnings and economic data. The benchmark index closed at a record on Tuesday.
Boosting investors’ appetite for risky assets was data showing growth in China’s vast factory sector reached a seven-month high this month, easing concerns about a slowdown in Chinese exports, which would point to weakening global demand.
The euro was up 0.2 percent at $1.3802, having hit $1.3824, its strongest since November 2011, while the dollar fell broadly, hitting a near nine-month low against a basket of currencies of 79.081. It was last down 0.1 percent at 79.166.
US Treasuries yields held near three-month lows yesterday as expectations that the Federal Reserve is still months away from reducing the size of its $85bn-a-month bond-purchase program kept up strong demand for the debt. Benchmark 10-year Treasuries were last was down 7/32 in price to yield at 2.5106 percent, near the three-month lows of 2.47 percent set on Wednesday.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 93.07 points, or 0.60 percent, at 15,506.40. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was up 6.02 points, or 0.34 percent, at 1,752.40. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 24.80 points, or 0.63 percent, at 3,931.88.
European shares recovered their poise, climbing back toward five-year highs on strong corporate results and the encouraging manufacturing data from top metals consumer China.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.5 percent to 1,285.89, recovering from the previous session’s fall and climbing back toward Tuesday’s five-year highs of 1,291.93. MSCI’s world equity index added 0.3 percent, slightly retracing losses of 0.6 percent on Wednesday, when markets were rocked by fears that a spike in Chinese short-term rates could hurt growth.
In commodities trading, spot gold rose as much as 1.2 percent to its highest since September 20 at $1,348.24 an ounce, as the outlook for an unchanged Fed policy heightened concerns about inflation risk. Copper fell to its lowest in more than a week as concerns about tight credit in China and its impact on demand offset the brighter growth outlook.
reuters
