Global equities cruise to three-month highs, dollar under protest pressure

World stock markets hit their highest levels since March and oil prices jumped on Tuesday as signs of a global economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic offset concerns over the worst civil unrest in the United States in decades.

Despite those gains, investors were hesitant to move away from the perceived safety of government bonds, which edged lower but remained near record highs.

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.70% following broad advances in Europe and Asia. The index remains down about 8.5% for the year to date. In midday trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 146.47 points, or 0.57%, to 25,621.49, the S&P 500 gained 7.23 points, or 0.24%, to 3,062.96 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 31.81 points, or 0.33%, to 9,520.24. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is now only 3% from its pre-pandemic record highs.

May Purchasing Managers Index data pointed to a fragile but encouraging recovery in global manufacturing, raising hopes that the worst is over, while reports that Germany was considering a stimulus plan to boost car sales lifted European stocks.

Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.2% to its highest since late February and markets in Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong and China [.SS] also gained as the Chinese central bank provided another shot of stimulus.

Bond investors remained more cautious that the global economy had fully turned a corner. Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 4/32 in price to yield 0.6738%, from 0.662% late on Monday.

The dollar was at multi-month lows against most major currencies following a 5% drop for its main index since March. [FRX/]

Some U.S. demonstrators, angered over the recent death of unarmed African American man George Floyd in police custody, set fire to a mall in Los Angeles overnight, looted stores in New York, and at least five U.S. police had been hit by gunfire in separate incidents.

Hopes for rising demand from an economic rebound boosted oil prices. U.S. crude recently rose 2.14% to $36.20 per barrel and Brent was at $39.31, up 2.58% on the day.

Global equities cruise to three-month highs, dollar under protest pressure, Reuters, Jun 2