Tag Archives: Wall Street

Wall Street bids Happy Birthday to bull market for stocks

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wednesday marks the seven-year anniversary of the start of the current bull market for U.S. stocks, one that has shaped up to be more notable for its duration than its intensity.

The current bull run of 84 months is the third-longest on record, with the average lasting slightly less than 59 months, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Though also above average, the gains are somewhat less impressive, with the S&P 500 stock index up 193 percent, fifth among 13 bull markets since the Great Depression. The average bull market climb is 167 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average and Nasdaq Composite, also bottomed on March 9, 2009. They grew about 159 percent and 266 percent, respectively, since then.

The bull started from a low point after the Great Recession and the financial crisis pushed stocks down 56.3 percent from the S&P’s October 2007 high of 1,565.15 to 676.53.

A technicality might make Wednesday’s whole birthday celebration moot. The S&P index actually peaked on May 21 and has yet to go above that. Should it fall more than 20 percent from that high of 2,130.82, it will confirm that the great bull actually ended back in May, and the market has technically been in a bear since then.

To confirm that the bull rolls on, the S&P will have to eclipse that high and continue its upward trajectory.

That’s far from certain. Stocks have struggled early in the year, with the S&P off 3.2 percent for 2016 and 3.9 percent below the May high. With relatively weak earnings and some concerns about global growth, it’s not clear stocks can resume their upward march.

“It has been long, it has been at times grueling, and it is tired,” said Peter Kenny, senior market strategist at Global Markets Advisory Group, in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey.

The market has room to move up, Kenny said, if corporate earnings and revenues can show signs of growth that would reveal stronger economic growth.

That would justify higher share prices for investors – and a more enthusiastic birthday celebration.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Linda Stern and Nick Zieminski)

Oil drop, China data drag Wall Street lower

(Reuters) – U.S. stocks ended near the lows of the day on Tuesday as energy shares tumbled alongside the price of oil and soft Chinese trade data rekindled fears that the global economy is weaker than anticipated.

U.S. crude futures fell more than 4 percent in post-settlement trading, in their largest daily decline since bottoming so far for the year on Feb. 11. Since that low, the U.S. barrel of crude rose as much as 45.5 percent.

Despite the rebound in crude prices, oversupply and expectations of weak demand from China have weighed on investor sentiment. The price of oil and equity indexes have been strongly correlated this year.

“While I’d love to see oil break out, I don’t think it will happen yet,” said Uri Landesman, president at Platinum Partners in New York.

Goldman Sachs analysts said the recent rally in oil was premature as prices would need to remain lower for longer to help rebalance the market later in the year.

Shares of Dow components Exxon and Chevron fell more than 2 percent. The S&P 500 energy index dropped 4.1 percent.

China’s February trade performance was far worse than economists had expected, with exports tumbling the most in more than six years. The 16th-straight monthly decline in imports weighed on stocks in the basic materials sector, which was down 2 percent.

Landesman said the S&P 500 is still in a downward trend and will likely stall near the 2,000 level, heading toward support near 1,825 before testing the record set last May above 2,100. The index on Monday closed above 2,000 for the first time since Jan. 5.

“It will be trading in that channel based on slow global (economic) growth prospects,” Landesman said.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 109.85 points, or 0.64 percent, to 16,964.1, the S&P 500 lost 22.5 points, or 1.12 percent, to 1,979.26 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 59.43 points, or 1.26 percent, to 4,648.83.

The largest percentage decliner on the Nasdaq 100 was Micron, down 7.9 percent to $10.66.

Shake Shack tumbled 11.8 percent, falling to $37.23 after the burger chain issued disappointing results and forecast.

Shares of Urban Outfitters were up 16.1 percent at $32.69, after better-than-expected sales for its Free People brand.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a ratio of 3.2-to-1 and on the Nasdaq a 3.5-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 18 new 52-week highs and 1 new low; the Nasdaq recorded 36 new highs and 37 new lows.

About 8.5 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges, below the 8.77 billion average over the last 20 sessions.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

Oil prices rally, S&P 500 up for a fifth consecutive session

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices jumped on Monday as optimism rose that major producers might reach a price support deal, helping U.S. stocks to notch a fifth straight session of gains.

Brent hit its highest level since December, climbing $2.12, or 5.5 percent, to settle at $40.84 a barrel, while U.S. crude rose $1.98, or 5.5 percent, to settle at $37.90.

Oil has rallied in recent weeks amid increasing hope that OPEC producers may be moving toward a production freeze to support prices in an oversupplied market. On Monday, the Ecuadorean government said Latin American oil producers agreed to meet on Friday in Quito to coordinate a strategy to support crude oil prices.

“It’s more confirmation that oil producers are close to achieving some kind of a deal on price support,” said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.

“It’s feeding bullish sentiment into a market that’s turned 180 degrees from where it stood just weeks ago.”

In other commodities markets, spot iron ore prices jumped 19 percent, helped by expectations that Chinese steel mills were planning production cuts.

A 2.4 percent gain in the S&P energy index offset a decline in technology shares, leaving the benchmark S&P 500 slightly positive for the session and extending the recent rise in stocks.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 67.18 points, or 0.4 percent, to 17,073.95, the S&P 500 rose 1.77 points, or 0.09 percent, to 2,001.76 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 8.77 points, or 0.19 percent, to 4,708.25.

U.S. stocks have posted gains in each of the last three weeks, thanks in part to the rebound in oil prices, after a steep sell-off at the start of the year.

MSCI’s all-country world stock index edged up 0.03 percent. In Europe, the pan-regional FTSEurofirst 300 index closed down 0.3 percent.

The dollar fell, wiping out its initial gains, as the oil rally rekindled demand for the euro and commodity-sensitive currencies.

The euro’s gains were limited by the view the European Central Bank would embark on more stimulus to support the euro zone’s fragile economic recovery at its policy meeting on Thursday.

The euro edged up 0.1 percent against the greenback to $1.1008 and slipped 0.5 percent versus the yen to 124.75 yen. The dollar index, which measures the dollar against a basket of six currencies, was down 0.2 percent at 97.132.

In the U.S. bond market, U.S. Treasury prices fell as oil prices surged and as traders increased bets in the wake of the strong February jobs report that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year .

The benchmark 10-year note’s yield rose to 1.920 percent, its highest in just over a month. It was last down 6/32 in price to yield 1.902 percent, up from 1.883 percent late Friday.

(Additional reporting by Barani Krishnan in New York, Nigel Stephenson in London, Hideyuki Sano in Tokyo, Marius Zaharia and Patrick Graham in London; Editing by Nick Zieminski, Bernadette Baum and Dan Grebler)

Global stocks rise on strong U.S. jobs report, oil surge

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A gauge of stock markets worldwide rose to a two-month high on Friday, posting its largest weekly gain since October, as oil and other commodity prices firmed and strong U.S. jobs growth bolstered confidence in the global economy.

The recovery in commodities lifted emerging markets shares, which rose 1.6 percent on the day. MSCI’s emerging-market stock metric posted its largest one-week gain since December 2011.

U.S. equity indexes rose to their highest levels since early January following the jobs data, which showed strong growth in payrolls and an increase in labor-force participation, though there was a surprising decline in hourly wages.

Nonfarm payrolls grew by 242,000 jobs last month, beating forecasts for 190,000 new jobs, but average hourly wages dipped by 0.1 percent after a strong 0.5 percent increase in January.

The drop in wages suggested that U.S. inflation remained muted, analysts said. Policymakers at the Federal Reserve are watching inflation closely in their assessment of when to continue raising interest rates.

“The wage number might be the silver lining, if you will, against a more hawkish Fed over the next few months because the Fed has been really focused on inflation,” said Mohannad Aama, managing director of Beam Capital Management LLC in New York.

A rise in the Fed’s rates generally strengthens the dollar, which makes U.S. exports more expensive and can reduce profits for companies that do business overseas.

The Dow Jones industrial average on Friday rose 62.87 points, or 0.37 percent, to 17,006.77, the S&P 500 gained 6.59 points, or 0.33 percent, to 1,999.99 and the Nasdaq Composite added 9.60 points, or 0.2 percent, to 4,717.02.

The S&P 500 rose more than 2.5 percent for the week, its third straight week of gains.

Brazil’s stock market rose to a seven-month high after police detained former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for questioning in an investigation of a bribery and money laundering scheme.

The Bovespa was up more than 4 percent following a 5 percent gain on Thursday after news of Lula’s questioning brought the investigation closer to President Dilma Rousseff, who is fighting off impeachment. It was the largest two-day gain the index has posted since January 2009.

For months, Brazilian assets have rallied when it appears that prospects have increased of a change in government. Rousseff’s increased state intervention in the economy has long been unpopular with business.

Yields of U.S. benchmark Treasuries rose to their highest levels in a month, led by longer-dated securities. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 13/32 in price to yield 1.88 percent.

MSCI’s global gauge of stocks was up 0.7 percent. Asian shares closed with their best week in five months and European stock markets ended with a third week of gains.

Oil prices touched two-month highs, gaining 10 percent this week. Benchmark Brent crude futures rose 4.6 percent to $38.78, and U.S. crude rose 4.2 percent to $36.03.

Iron ore and copper both hit four-month highs.

The dollar fell 0.25 percent against a basket of major currencies, and the euro rose above $1.10 for the first time since Feb. 26.

(Reporting by Dion Rabouin; Addtional reporting by Anirban Nag; Editing by Bernadette Baum, Nick Zieminski and Leslie Adler)

Wall Street snaps up shares in late-day scramble

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange

(Reuters) – Wall Street moved higher on Thursday, adding momentum to a recent recovery as the energy and financial sectors emerged into positive territory for the year.

The S&P 500’s increase was the most recent in four weeks of mostly steady gains that have left the index down 2.5 percent in 2016 after the worst January since 2009.

It was the second straight day that stocks strengthened late in the session, a pattern that some investors view as sign of improving sentiment. The S&P has gained in five out of the last seven sessions.

“That is a positive and I think there’s reason to look at that with some hope,” said Andrew Bodner, president of Double Diamond Investment Group in Parsippany, New Jersey. But Bodner said he remains cautious following the market’s recent volatility.

Earlier, a report showed that the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week, but the underlying trend continued to point to a strengthening labor market.

Investors were also looking to Friday for a comprehensive labor report that is expected to show an addition of 190,000 jobs in February, up from a gain of 151,000 in January.

Brent crude prices, which are up about 35 percent from last month’s lows, were largely steady.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended 0.26 percent higher at 16,943.56 points and the S&P 500 gained 0.35 percent to 1,993.39.

The Nasdaq Composite added 0.09 percent to 4,707.42.

Eight of the 10 major S&P 500 sectors gained, with the energy sector up 1.28 percent and financials up 0.63 percent, both climbing into positive terrain for 2016.

The financial sector has surged 13 percent in the past 14 sessions, although it remains down 7 percent in 2016. Investors fear that low oil prices will force energy companies to default on their debts.

The health index fell 0.35 percent, pulled down by a 1.91-percent dip in Celgene Corp.

Herbalife fell 7.02 percent after the multilevel marketer said it had overstated growth in the number of new members due to a database error.

Kroger dropped 7.01 percent after the largest U.S. supermarket operator’s quarterly sales missed estimates.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,304 to 726. On the Nasdaq, 1,736 issues rose and 1,057 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed 16 new 52-week highs and one new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 39 new highs and 20 new lows.

Volume hit 8.8 billion shares, matching the daily average in the past 20 sessions.

(Additional reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by James Dalgleish and Nick Zieminski)

Wall Street slightly lower as crude oil slips

By Abhiram Nandakumar

(Reuters) – Wall Street edged lower on Wednesday as oil prices slipped after data showed U.S. crude stockpiles touched record highs.

U.S. crude fell about 1 percent after a report from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed that an increase in crude stockpiles was way above estimates. [O/R]

Wall Street closed sharply higher on Tuesday, helping the S&P 500 claw back most of its losses in the last two months. The index, which had fallen as much as 10.5 percent, is now down only about 3 percent for the year.

“The market got severely overbought yesterday,” said Jeffrey Saut, chief investment strategist at Raymond James Financial in Florida. “It would not be surprising to see stocks pull back a little bit here.”

At 9:41 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 34.25 points, or 0.2 percent, at 16,830.83.

The S&P 500 <.SPX> was down 2.64 points, or 0.13 percent, at 1,975.71 and the Nasdaq Composite index <.IXIC> was down 1.29 points, or 0.03 percent, at 4,688.31.

Eight of the 10 major S&P sectors were lower, led by the utilities sector’s <.SPLRCU> 1.3 percent decline. The materials sector <.SPLRCM> fell 0.65 percent.

Shares of Monsanto <MON.N> were down 5 percent at $87.85 after the company slashed its 2016 profit forecast. The stock was the second biggest drag on the S&P 500.

Data on Wednesday showed the U.S. private sector added a higher-than-expected 214,000 jobs in February, suggesting solid job growth despite market turmoil and worries about a slowing global economy.

The report serves as a precursor to the more comprehensive monthly jobs report by the U.S. Labor Department on Friday.

The U.S. economy continues to show signs of recovery even as China and euro-zone countries struggle to spark their sputtering economic growth engines, pushing central banks to adopt diverging monetary policies.

Investors are increasingly facing the prospects of higher interest rates from the U.S. Federal Reserve, while also expecting more monetary stimulus from the European Central Bank and the People’s Bank of China.

Zynga <ZNGA.O> was up 6.9 percent at $2.31 after the “Farmville” creator named a new chief executive and said founder Mark Pincus would be executive chairman.

The Fed will also issue its Beige Book report of anecdotes on business activity at 2 p.m. ET. San Francisco Fed President John Williams is slated to speak later in the day.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1,361 to 1,271. On the Nasdaq, 1,102 issues fell and 1,057 rose.

The S&P 500 index showed two new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded nine new highs and six new lows.

(Reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)

Wall Street chalks up strongest day in a month

(Reuters) – Wall Street enjoyed its strongest session in a month on Tuesday, led by financial and technology stocks after encouraging U.S. factory and construction data suggested the world’s biggest economy was regaining momentum.

The S&P 500 closed 2.39 percent higher, leaving the index down 3 percent in 2016 after partly recovering in recent weeks from a steep selloff in January. A rally in Apple shares helped give the Nasdaq Composite its strongest day since August.

While manufacturing activity contracted in February, steadying new orders growth and improving inventories offered signs of stability.

Construction spending in January surged to the highest since 2007, while strong auto sales also boosted sentiment.

The data strengthened expectations the U.S. economy is gaining steam after slowing in the fourth quarter.

“What was the spin since last August? That the Chinese slowdown is going to affect the rest of the world,” said Donald Selkin, chief market strategist at National Securities in New York. “Now we’re seeing there’s virtually no chance we’re going to have a recession.”

Swings in the price of oil have been tightly linked to stock prices in recent months, and on Tuesday they continued their recovery from recent lows, with U.S. crude <CLc1> up 2 percent.

In a sign that investors are becoming more confident, the CBOE Volatility index fell 13.87 percent to its lowest since Dec. 31.

The Dow Jones industrial average surged 2.11 percent to end at 16,865.08 points.

The S&P 500 jumped 46.12 points to 1,978.35 and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.89 percent to 4,689.60.

The S&P 500 and the Dow both had their best one-day percentage gain since Jan. 29. The S&P moved back above its 50-day moving average, seen as a sign of improving sentiment.

Nine of the 10 major S&P sectors rose 1 percent or more.

Financials surged 3.54 percent, with Morgan Stanley and Citigroup both rising over 5 percent. The sector is the worst performer this year, down about 9 percent, due partly to fears of debt defaults by energy companies.

The technology sector rose 3.08 percent. Apple gained 3.97 percent, giving the biggest boost to the S&P and the Nasdaq.

Utilities, seen as a safe haven in times of trouble, fell 0.49 percent.

Fiat Chrysler rose 7.15 percent and Ford added 4.64 percent after strong U.S. auto sales in February defied fears of a slowdown after a record 2015.

Tesla Motors dropped 2.91 percent to $186.35 after influential short seller Citron Research predicted the electric car maker would fall to $100 by year-end due to supply and demand problems.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,550 to 533. On the Nasdaq, 2,117 issues rose and 690 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed nine new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 38 new highs and 49 new lows.

About 8.8 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, in line with the 8.8 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

(Additional reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by James Dalgleish and Nick Zieminski)

S&P 500 slides below closely watched threshold as Wall Street dips

(Reuters) – Wall Street ended lower on Monday, falling out of lockstep with oil prices as energy and healthcare shares lost ground.

U.S. indexes gave up early gains despite a 3 percent rally in U.S. oil prices. Stocks and oil have been strongly correlated in recent months as crude prices tanked to decade lows, and their movements in opposite directions during the session was notable to investors.

Following gains last week, technical trading dominated the action as the S&P 500 fell below its 50-day moving average, a sign seen as bad for sentiment. The index broke above the average on Thursday for the first time this year.

“If stocks rally up to a declining 50-day average, people will sell against that,” said Michael Matousek, head trader at U.S. Global Investors Inc in San Antonio. “From a psychological standpoint, you have that overhead resistance at that level.”

Nine of the 10 major S&P sectors fell, led by a 1.58 percent decline in the healthcare sector, with Amgen Inc down 3.60 percent.

The energy index fell 1.16 percent despite a 3 percent increase in the price of U.S. oil amid signs that a 20-month selloff could be hitting bottom.

The S&P utilities index was the lone gainer, up 0.2 percent and helped by a 1.34 percent increase in Edison International.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.74 percent to 16,516.5 points and the S&P 500 lost 0.81 percent to 1,932.22.

The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.71 percent to 4,557.95.

For the month, the Dow rose 0.3 percent, the S&P 500 lost 0.4 percent and the Nasdaq lost 1.2 percent.

Strong data, including improving consumer spending, released last week suggested the U.S. economy was recovering better than expected, raising expectations that the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates this year.

After the bell, Workday fell 1 percent as the cloud-computing company reported a bigger quarterly net loss, hurt by higher spending on sales, marketing and product development.

Shares of Endo International slumped 21 percent after the pharmaceutical company’s revenue forecast missed estimates.

Valeant tumbled 18.41 percent after the Canadian drugmaker said its chief executive would return from medical leave and it delayed the release of its quarterly results.

Icahn Enterprises rose 3.68 percent after the activist investor offered to buy the rest of Federal Mogul. Shares of the auto parts maker soared 45.78 percent.

Although the main indexes closed lower, advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,593 to 1,453. On the Nasdaq, 1,545 issues fell and 1,283 advanced.

The S&P 500 index showed seven new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 38 new highs and 46 lows.

About 8.0 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, above the 8.9 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

(Additional reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Dan Grebler and Meredith Mazzilli)

Wall Street ends lower in feeble end to strong week

(Reuters) – Wall Street ended lower on Friday in a feeble end to another week of strong gains after concerns about the timing of future interest rate hikes offset gains in materials and energy stocks.

The S&P utility sector led declines, down 2.73 percent. The materials index was the biggest winner and was up for the third straight day with a 1.35 percent rise.

In a break from a trend seen for much of this year, energy shares clung to gains even after a rally in crude oil prices faded, with ConocoPhillips up 3.21 percent.

The Commerce Department said gross domestic product expanded at a 1-percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, an upward revision from its previous estimate of 0.7 percent growth. The data exacerbated concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve could raise rates sooner rather than later. The economy grew at a rate of 2.0 percent in the third quarter.

Federal funds futures implied traders see a 36-percent chance of the Fed raising rates in June and 53-percent chance in December, both above Thursday’s levels, according to CME Group’s FedWatch program.

Following a steep selloff in January and a partial recovery in the past two weeks, the S&P 500 is just above its 50-day moving average for a second session, which some traders believe is a sign of improving sentiment.

But investors, shell-shocked by months of volatility, remained cautious, with decade-low oil prices, rate hikes and a potential slowdown in China’s economy still very much on their minds.

“I think we’re near the top of the roller coaster again. All of the things that made the market go wild in January are still up in the air,” said Brian Battle, director of trading at Performance Trust Capital Partners in Chicago.

In other U.S. data, consumer spending rose strongly in January, while underlying inflation picked up by the most in four years.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.34 percent to end at 16,639.97 points.

The S&P 500 lost 0.19 percent to finish at 1,948.05 after spending much of the day in positive territory.

The Nasdaq Composite added 0.18 percent to 4,590.47.

For the week, the Dow gained 1.5 percent, the S&P rose 1.6 percent and the Nasdaq added 1.9 percent. The S&P 500 is now down about 5 percent for 2016.

Shares of J.C. Penney jumped 14.71 percent after the department store operator reported better-than-expected revenue.

Baidu rose 9.87 percent after the Chinese internet search firm posted quarterly results that impressed Wall Street.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,894 to 1,168. On the Nasdaq, 1,780 issues rose and 973 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed 21 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 43 new highs and 47 new lows.

About 7.9 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, below the 8.9 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

(Additional reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler and Nick Zieminski)

Oil turns higher, pushes world stock markets up

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Global equity markets got a boost from an upturn in crude oil on Thursday as the market focused on an upcoming meeting of major oil producers that investors hope could stabilize volatile petroleum markets.

U.S. stock indexes were also buoyed by robust data on durable goods orders that pointed to a recovery in the struggling manufacturing sector.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 212.37 points, or 1.29 percent, to 16,697.36, the S&P 500 gained 21.93 points, or 1.14 percent, to 1,951.73 and the Nasdaq Composite added 39.60 points, or 0.87 percent, to 4,582.21.

Crude oil futures rose more than 2 percent after Venezuela reaffirmed an oil producers meeting in mid-March that would include Saudi Arabia, Russia and Qatar. Prior to the announcement, oil was down as much as 3 percent.

The sharp turn was more of “an emotional move, people thinking they’re going to miss the boat,” said Michael Matousek, head trader at U.S. Global Investors Inc in San Antonio, about the gains in oil.

“People are trying to stay one step ahead, thinking they know what the decision of OPEC will be.”

U.S. crude futures settled up 92 cents, or 2.9 percent, at $33.07 a barrel.

Brent crude futures finished up 88 cents, or 2.6 percent, at $35.29 a barrel, hitting a three-week high.

European equity markets rose Thursday, rebounding from this week’s losses that had been spurred by fears of Britain exiting the European Union.

Europe’s FTSEurofirst 300, which has lost almost 4 percent since Tuesday, was up 2 percent as risk appetite returned.

Equity markets and oil prices have moved in sync this year so far, but analysts say they expect the two to decouple in the not-too-distant future.

MSCI’s gauge of global stock markets was up 1.1 percent.

Markets’ appetite for risk pushed traders out of safe-haven currencies like the Japanese yen, which fell 0.6 percent against the dollar.

Britain’s sterling rose 0.3 percent to $1.3970, taking a breath from a 5-percent fall since early this month on fears that a public vote on June 23 could see Britain become the first country to quit the 28-member European Union.

The dollar struggled to make much headway overall due to doubts over whether the Fed will raise rates at all this year. The euro edged up 0.15 percent to $1.1027. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies was flat on the day.

Oil’s recovery Thursday did help increase U.S. bond market’s gauges on traders’ inflation expectations to their highest levels in nearly four weeks.

Federal Reserve policymakers have been concerned about the erosion in inflation expectations which could impair efforts to boost domestic price growth to their 2-percent goal.

The yield premiums on regular U.S. Treasuries over Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, known as inflation breakeven rates, have risen from their lowest levels since early 2009 in recent days with the rebound in oil prices.

(Additional reporting by David Gaffen in New York, Marc Jones in London, Joshua Hunt in Tokyo; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Nick Zieminski)