European stocks reach record highs
Stocks in Europe reached record highs on Thursday, buoyed by optimism in Britain over easing lockdown restrictions, while a benign outlook for U.S. interest rates was set to push Wall Street to new heights.
The European STOXX index of leading 600 companies rose 0.3%, hitting a new high of 436.66 points. London’s blue chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.2%.
Minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting, published on Wednesday, showed members felt the economy was still far short of target and were in no rush to scale back their $120 billion a month of bond buying.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell speaks at an International Monetary Fund event later on Thursday and is likely to reiterate the dovish outlook. The European Central Bank was due to publish accounts for its March 11 policy meeting amid debate about when it should start tapering its pandemic stimulus, with the euro area recovery still in doubt.
Wall Street was also set to reach fresh peaks on Thursday with e-mini futures on the S&P 500 rising 0.25% after rising to a record high, and Nasdaq futures up 0.7% Gains by U.S. Treasuries also helped, although analysts said markets will be tested next week when the U.S. earnings seasons gets underway.
In Asia, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched up 0.3% in quiet trade. Japan’s Nikkei slipped 0.3%, not helped by news Tokyo’s governor had asked for emergency measures to stem a surge of COVID-19 infections.
In commodity markets, gold was at $1,743 an ounce after meeting resistance around $1,745. Oil prices fell after official figures showed a bigincrease in U.S. gasoline stockpiles, causing concerns about demand for crude weakening in the world’s biggest consumer of the resource at a time when supplies around the world are rising. Brent fell 22 cents to $62.94 a barrel. U.S. crude lost 37 cents to $59.40 per barrel.
This article was compiled by BOV Asset Management Limited, a member of the BOV Group. BOV Asset Management,TG Complex, Suite 2, Level 3, Brewery Str., Mriehel BKR 3000. Email: infoassetmanagement@bov.com Internet address: www.bovassetmanagement.com. BOV Asset Management is licensed by the MFSA.