Oil and gold push global stocks higher

On Thursday global stocks advanced as benchmark indexes traded near multi-year highs and a rebound in oil boosted energy producers. Gold snapped a six-day losing streak.

Global equities have advanced and volatility faded after Emmanuel Macron won France’s presidential election, while corporate earnings and positive U.S. data buoyed sentiment about economic growth. Amid signs of a strengthening American labor force, investors are paying closer attention to comments from Federal Reserve officials for clues on the path for interest rates this year.

The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.1 percent, after gaining 0.2 percent Wednesday to the highest level since August 2015.

Italian banks shone in lacklustre European trading on Thursday after results led by Unicredit whose results indicated its turnaround was gathering pace. Europe’s STOXX 600 slipped 0.1 percent while both the eurozone’s broader stocks and the blue chip index fell 0.2 percent.

Financials were a bright spot on the benchmarks for the second day running, with Unicredit up 4.4 percent after rising revenues and lower loan losses boosted it to better than expected first-quarter profits.

South Korean equities reached a fresh record, while the Nikkei 225 Stock Average approached the 20,000 level. Chinese shares erased earlier losses.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.3 percent as of 8:09 a.m. in London, heading toward the highest closing level since June 2015. Japan’s Topix index rose 0.1 percent, while the Nikkei 225 climbed 0.3 percent to 19,961.55.