By David Randall
NEW YORK (Reuters) – World equity markets began November with a broad rally on Thursday after a brutal October, boosted by strong corporate earnings and signs that a trade war between economic giants, China and the United States, could be contained.
The MSCI All-Country World Index, which tracks stock markets in 47 countries, climbed about 1.1 percent.
October was the index’s worst month since May 2012, as it lost 7.5 percent when equity market took a beating from factors such as trade wars and concerns over world economic growth and higher U.S. interest rates.
Investor sentiment was bolstered by remarks from U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday, who said he had a “very good” talk with Chinese President Xi Jinping on trade and North Korea, and that the two planned to meet at an upcoming G-20 summit.
“Over the past few days, we’ve seen the pressure valve taken off the selling which certainly helps from a sentiment perspective,” said Michael Antonelli, managing director, institutional sales trading at Robert W. Baird in Milwaukee.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 264.98 points, or 1.06 percent, to 25,380.74, the S&P 500 gained 28.63 points, or 1.06 percent, to 2,740.37 and the Nasdaq Composite added 128.16 points, or 1.75 percent, to 7,434.06.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.41 percent.
Sterling extended its rally on Thursday after the Bank of England kept interest rates on hold and hinted at a slightly quicker pace of future rate rises if Britain’s exit from the European Union goes smoothly.
Sterling’s advance nudged the U.S. dollar off its recent peak. The dollar index, tracking the greenback against six major currencies, fell 0.87 percent, with the euro up 0.88 percent to $1.1409.
The index had spiked to a 16-month high of 97.20 overnight on a U.S. ADP national employment report showing private sector payrolls increased by the most in eight months in October.
The dollar has enjoyed a boost from robust economic data, including last week’s gross domestic product growth numbers which showed the U.S. economy slowed less than expected in the third quarter.
“We’ve got a reasonably risk-friendly market, and with the new month we have some dollar selling,” said Kit Juckes, a strategist at Societe Generale.
Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 5/32 in price to yield 3.1398 percent, from 3.159 percent late on Wednesday.
Oil prices sank amid concerns over weaker global demand and record supply from the world’s major oil producers. [O/R]
U.S. crude fell 2.74 percent to $63.52 per barrel and Brent was last at $72.75, down 3.05 percent on the day.
(Reporting by David Randall; Editing by Clive McKeef)
