Friday May 16, 03:45 PM
World stocks power to 4-month peak
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World stocks powered to a fresh four-month peak on Friday, driven by technology and oil shares, while diverging growth outlooks between the United States and elsewhere weighed on the dollar. Data from Japan showed the economy unexpectedly picked up pace, growing 0.8 percent in the first quarter as exports weathered a US downturn. This followed Thursday's data which offered forecast-beating growth in the euro zone. These economies could still follow the United States into a slowdown, but evidence that growth is more than holding up, which helped boost investor risk appetite. "Europe is not going to be anywhere as badly affected with a continuing slowdown in the real economy as the US is," said Adam Myers, market strategist at Credit Suisse. "Europe will slow down but its slowdown is not going to have the same impact on financial markets and lending and therefore consumers than it will in the US" The FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 1 percent while MSCI's main world equity index rose 0.5 percent to its highest since January. The MSCI index is a whisker away from a 2008 high set in January and on track to recoup all of the losses made since the end of last year. Reflecting an increasingly risk-friendly environment, the Volatility Index, a key gauge of fear which measures projected stock market volatility through the S&P, hit 16.08 on Thursday, its lowest since October, having shot up as high as 37.57 in January. In Europe, technology shares were the best performing sector, helped by Thursday's gains in chip maker Intel Corp after Lehman Brothers raised its price target on the stock. Oil shares also rose as oil resumed its march towards record peak. Financial stocks rose, with a focus on a report by the Financial Times that Britain's biggest banks are preparing to swap between 80-90 billion pounds of mortgage-backed assets for Bank of England Treasury bills. The amount is nearly twice what the central bank envisaged when it unveiled the scheme to unblock the frozen bank-lending market. US stock futures rose 0.3 percent, indicating a firmer open on Wall Street. Yahoo was trading higher in Europe after the firm said late on Thursday it had struck an advertising partnership deal with WPP Group that will let WPP buy ads on Yahoo's online ad exchange. Diverging Growth Outlooks Signs of diverging economic outlooks in G3 (United States, Japan and euro zone) countries weighed on the dollar earlier, before the US currency recouped its losses to stand steady on the day. The euro rose 0.2 percent at $1.5477. "The general background remains pro-risk," Steven Pearson, chief strategist at Bank of Scotland, in a note to clients. "Although the strength in Japan's GDP report is a mirage..., the idea that the less leveraged advanced economies and the emerging world are de-coupling further from leveraged Anglo-Saxon style economies could well take root from here." Earlier, data showed Hong Kong's economic performance surprised on the upside, growing 1.8 percent in the first quarter for annual growth of 7.1 percent. Emerging sovereign spreads tightened 2 basis points while emerging stocks were up more than 1 percent. The June Bund future rose 13 ticks. US light crude rose 1.7 percent to $126.22 a barrel, edging towards this week's record high near $127. Gold rose to $885.30 an ounce, tracking oil higher.
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