LONDON (Reuters) – Global equities rose Tuesday for the fourth consecutive day and oil followed as hopes for fresh US stimulus were a strong end to the year for riskier assets and the dollar two-and-a-half years. lows.
The MSCI World Index rose 0.4% at 1010 GMT, extending the recent rise to the rise in Asia, where Japanese equities peaked at 30 years. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan rose 0.5%.
Early gains in Europe were broadly based, with all major indices rising, led by Britain’s blue-chip stocks. They rose on their first trading day since the Christmas Eve agreement with a trade agreement with the European Union.
The FTSE 100 rose 2.4% on the fourth consecutive day of gains, led by companies in a range of sectors likely to benefit from the deal, including Intertek and Diageo.
“Multinationals, who are likely to benefit most from frictionless, tariff-free trading and foreign exchange earnings, typically lead the charge in the FTSE 100,” said Russ Mold, investment director at AJ Bell.
Banks and other financial services boosted the London market.
“This indicates that the nerves remain about the agreement that will be reached in 2021 when it comes to financial services and indeed services in general.”
The drug manufacturer AstraZeneca has also received the news that the COVID-19 vaccine will be approved by the British government for emergency use within a few days.
The launch of the European Union’s vaccination program, in the hope of ending the widespread closures that have brought economies to a halt across the bloc, has seen positive sentiment shared with the mainland, where struggling travel and leisure stocks rose by 2 % increased.
U.S. stock futures also indicated a 0.5% higher on Wall Street later in the day, backed by hopes that a $ 2.3 billion stimulus package signed by President Trump on Sunday would be approved by the Senate.
The package covers $ 1.4 billion in spending on government agencies and $ 892 billion in COVID-19 relief, including $ 2,000 relief to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic.
The prospect of higher demand helped boost oil prices with Brent crude futures and the U.S. West Texas Intermediate, both of which rose about 1.3%.
Demand for riskier assets has weakened the US dollar, which is often seen as a safe haven. It fell 0.2% against a basket of currencies and saw the 18-month low hit in November.
The shorting of the dollar was a popular trade. Calculations by Reuters based on data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Monday suggested the trend would continue. Short positions on the dollar increased to $ 26.6 billion in the week ended December 21, the highest in three months.
Among other currencies, the sterling point rose 0.2% against the dollar, reversing two-day losses, although from the previous high. The euro climbed for the third consecutive day, up 0.3%, and was also threatened in part by a trade treaty between the EU and China.
Yields on European government debt rose lower, with German bond yields of ten years at 0.57% and the riskier Italian, Spanish and Portuguese yields also lower.
A sluggish dollar boosted gold prices, which rose 0.5% to $ 1,878.9 an ounce. [GOL/]