Stocks rally despite political tensions

U.S. equities rose to the highest in almost a month as investors set aside concern about escalating trade tensions and rising political tension abroad to focus on the coming earnings season. The dollar gained versus major peers and Treasuries retreated.

The S&P 500 Index climbed for a third day and the Dow Jones Industrial Average popped through key technical levels. Miners and energy producers took the Stoxx Europe 600 Index to a fifth consecutive advance, the longest winning streak since March. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index jumped the most in a month.

The pound erased gains after pro-Brexit official Boris Johnson quit as U.K. foreign secretary throwing the U.K. government into turmoil over negotiations to leave the European Union. The dollar strengthened against most major peers. The Turkish lira retreated after President Recep Erdogan named his son-in-law finance minister. The Chinese yuan rebounded after its fourth weekly decline.

The start of earnings season this week may divert some attention away from the trade war that’s kept global stocks under pressure, while data out Friday supported sentiment. The U.S. jobs report showed another month of gains in excess of 200,000, while German industrial production beat all estimates for May. Those signs of strength contrasted with protectionist tensions after China retaliated against U.S. tariff increases.

“The markets, especially after the report on unemployment last week, seem to be pretty comfortable looking ahead and getting all the jitters about the trade war away,” Omar Aguilar, chief investment officer for equities at Charles Schwab Investment Management, said by phone. “Having the market paying more attention to earnings and fundamentals is clearly a good sign.”

Elsewhere, Twitter shares tumbled Monday after a news report quantified its purge of fake and malicious accounts, noting that the aggressive action could harm its user growth. Twitter has been open but vague about its crackdown, an effort aimed at preventing the spread of fake news and making its service more welcoming for real people.

The Washington Post put numbers on the effort Friday , reporting that Twitter suspended 70 million accounts in May and June. Twitter shares fell more than 9 percent amid fears that the removals could dent the company's reported user figures.