Stocks Climb, Dollar Falls on Vaccine Progress

Stocks and U.S. equity futures rose, while the dollar weakened to a one-month low as progress in developing a coronavirus vaccine crossed a key milestone. European stocks staged a broad advance, with travel shares leading gains. Atlantia SpA surged 20% as Italy’s government moved to resolve a long-running dispute linked to a 2018 bridge collapse. Treasuries and gold were steady. Oil gained after a report pointed to a drop in U.S. crude stockpiles.

The vaccine developments brought optimism to financial markets that have been struggled to make headway recently in the face of new outbreaks across the U.S. and Asia. U.S. stocks had a late session surge on Tuesday after news that Moderna Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine produced antibodies to the coronavirus in all patients tested in an initial safety trial.

Stocks

Futures on the S&P 500 Index increased 0.7% as of 9:12 a.m. London time.The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.8%.The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 1.1%.The MSCI Emerging Market Index climbed 0.6%.

Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.4%.The euro gained 0.4% to $1.144.The British pound gained 0.4% to $1.2606.The Japanese yen strengthened 0.2% to 106.98 per dollar.The offshore yuan strengthened 0.2% to 6.9939 per dollar.

Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries dipped less than one basis point to 0.62%.The yield on two-year Treasuries dipped less than one basis point to 0.16%.Germany’s 10-year yield sank one basis point to -0.46%.Britain’s 10-year yield rose one basis point to 0.156%.Japan’s 10-year yield increased less than one basis point to 0.035%.

Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude gained 1% to $40.83 a barrel.Brent crude increased 0.7% to $43.42 a barrel.Gold strengthened 0.2% to $1,812.37 an ounce.

Stocks Climb, Dollar Falls on Vaccine Progress: Markets Wrap, Bloomberg, Jul 15