Stocks, dollar gain as payrolls fuel risk-on trades

Updated - January 17, 2018 at 02:24 PM.

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Stock markets rose on Monday and the dollar extended gains as risk appetite revived following strong US job figures that bolstered expectations of faster growth in the world's biggest economy.

The MSCI All-Country World index rose 0.4 per cent, as did the pan-European STOXX 600 index, supported by a broad equity rally on Friday’s payrolls data and as Europe’s under-pressure banks extended gains from post stress-test lows.

The dollar edged up against a basket of six major currencies , while euro zone bond yields climbed as the US numbers also drove a sell-off in fixed income markets.

Yukio Ishizuki, currency strategist at Daiwa Securities, said the robust signals from the US economy were driving investors away from safe-haven assets such as the yen.

“The payrolls data puts markets on risk-on mode, making it difficult to buy the yen for now,” said Ishizuki.

Gold prices also slipped, hitting a one-week low.

With stocks back in fashion, Andreas Clenow, chief investment officer at ACIES Asset Management in Zurich, said US equity markets were the preferred choice for many.

The MSCI Emerging Market index advanced 1 per cent.

Oil prices rose, lifted by reports of renewed talks among some OPEC state to rein in output, a proposal that non-OPEC producer Russia was quick to dismiss.

Published on August 8, 2016 10:34