Shares and commodities keep climbing, so do bond yields

World stocks headed back towards record highs with a third day of gains and the dollar dropped to a three-year low on Thursday, after top Federal Reserve and European Central Bank officials took aim at rising bond market yields. There was a lot to keep tabs on. A renewed retail frenzy re-ignited the likes of GameStop, bets on $70 a barrel oil and a decade high in copper prices drove a commodity currency rally and bond yields were still rising too.

A near 1.9% jump in oil and gas shares ensured European markets followed Asia’s overnight gains. MSCI’s main world index, which spans 50 countries, was up 0.5%. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that U.S. rates could remain low for years, while ECB board member Isabel Schnabel was out early on Thursday saying it would fight any big increases in inflation-adjusted market rates.

But bond markets are still not playing ball. Ten-year German Bund yields climbed 3 basis points in early trading. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields were near one-year highs at 1.42% and on course for the biggest monthly rise since Donald Trump’s 2016 U.S. election victory jolted markets.

Crude oil climbed to 13-month highs after U.S. government data on Wednesday showed a drop in crude output as a deep freeze in Texas disrupted production last week.

Copper prices steadied near $9,500 a tonne in London. It’s now at its highest level in almost a decade and could log its biggest monthly gains in 15 years this month.

In a possible sign of a renewed retail-driven frenzy in equity markets, GameStop’s Frankfurt-listed shares trebled as they opened on Thursday, overshooting the videogame retailer’s 100% surge on Wall Street overnight.

Shares and commodities keep climbing, so do bond yields, Reuters, Feb 25