Equity
Asian shares and the pound moved higher on Thursday as investors breathed a sigh of relief after British Prime Minister Theresa May survived a no-confidence vote, and as China appeared to be taking more steps to meet U.S. demands to open its markets.
Japan’s Nikkei stock index gained 0.8 percent, while Australian shares were up 0.2 percent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.09 percent to 24,635.88 points, the S&P 500 gained 1.01 percent to 2,663.44 and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.41 percent to 7,130.79.
US treasury
U.S. treasury yields continued to rise after steep declines as risk sentiment improved. The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes was at 2.9114 percent on Thursday, up from its U.S. close of 2.906 percent on Wednesday.
The two-year yield, sensitive to expectations of higher Fed fund rates, was at 2.7744 percent compared with a U.S. close of 2.77 percent.
Currency
The euro was also higher, up 0.04 percent at $1.1375 after Italy’s government offered to lower its deficit target next year to 2.04 percent of gross domestic product, below the 2.4 percent level that the European Commission had rejected as too high.
The European Central Bank is all but certain to formally end its lavish bond purchase scheme on Thursday but will take an increasingly dim view on growth, raising the odds that its next step in removing stimulus will be delayed.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, edged down to 97.020. The dollar rose a hair against Japan’s currency, buying 113.30 yen.
U.S. crude rose 0.37 percent to $51.34 a barrel as trade tensions eased, and spot gold was slightly higher, trading at 1,245.77 per ounce on the weaker dollar.
Source : Reuters
