New York
US equities rose, with technology shares rallying after strong earnings from Facebook Inc. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. offered a reprieve for bulls. The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell below 3 per cent and the dollar pulled back from a three-month high.
The Nasdaq 100 Index surged 1.9 per cent, with Facebook notching its best day in two years and AMD lifting beleaguered chipmakers. Intel Corp. reports after the US close. Rate-sensitive shares advanced as the 10-year yield fell for the first time in nine days. Crude was higher and gold lower.
“Everyone is surprised at how well these companies are posting their performance through this earnings period,” said Kevin Miller, chief executive officer of Minnesota-based E-Valuator Funds. “Two things drive markets: One is fundamentals, and two is emotion.”
With the earnings season in full swing, investors are confronting the question of whether global equities will be able to cope with higher interest rates. Signs of optimism from Facebook and Samsung Electronics Co. are helping offset pockets of concern around technology and industrial companies that have weighed on gauges this month.
Terminal users can follow the ECB rates decision in our TOPLive blog.
In Europe, the common currency fluctuated after the central kept interest rates unchanged and ECB President Mario Draghi said growth in the euro area is expected to remain solid, albeit with some moderation. European bonds tracked the jump in Treasuries, while the Stoxx Europe 600 Index headed for its first increase in three days. Earlier in Asia, shares in Korea and Japan rose as those in China and Hong Kong fell.
Elsewhere, aluminium climbed and Alcoa Corp. gained. Oleg Deripaska plans to keep control of United Co. Rusal even as the Russian aluminium giant battles for survival in the face of harsh US sanctions, according to people familiar with the matter.
West Texas crude extended an advance above $68 a barrel as French President Emmanuel Macron predicted US President Donald Trump will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, casting a cloud over Middle East geopolitics.
