U.S.-LED RALLY HELPS WORLD STOCKS HIT HIGH

London, April 26: World stocks hit a record high on Wednesday after strong earnings and the prospect of tax cuts for corporate America boosted US shares and the euro held on to recent gains as political concerns in France ebbed.

European shares edged higher towards 20-month highs hit earlier this week after centrist Emmanuel Macron’s win in the first round of French presidential elections considerably reduced the risk of a French exit from the single currency.

On Wednesday, higherthan-expected earnings from European companies helped European stocks reverse early falls and edge higher.

“We have had 25 per cent of companies reporting, and a majority of those have beaten estimates,” said Emmanuel Cau, global equity strategist at JP Morgan. “Pretty much every single euro zone data point out has surprised to the upside, and this is driving upgrades.”

Overall, first-quarter earnings for STOXX 600 companies were expected to rise 5.5 per cent, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S data. Revenues are expected to increase 5.7 per cent.

That compares to the 11.4 per cent earnings growth expected for top US firms. The euro held on to the bulk of the gains made earlier this week; it fell 0.27 per cent to $1.0897 against a strengthening dollar, but is still up over 1.5 per cent from Friday’s close.

Against this backdrop, Mr Trump struck a conciliatory note and flagged tax cuts, boosting optimism.