Global equities head toward monthly gain

FE Team | Published: November 24, 2023 22:38:30

NEW YORK/LONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters): Shares on Wall Street were mixed, as global equities drifted on Friday toward their biggest one-month rally since November 2020 during a shortened, muted trading session following the US Thanksgiving holiday.
Oil futures traded steady ahead of next week's OPEC+ meeting, which could bring some kind of agreement on output cuts in 2024, and gold prices were on track for a second weekly gain.
MSCI's index of global shares had eased 0.01 per cent by 9:49 am EST (1449 GMT), but was still headed for a monthly gain of 8.5 per cent after investors grew increasingly confident that US interest rates have peaked, with the market narrative shifting to the timing of cuts. .
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 68.74 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 35,341.77; the S&P 500 index lost 0.97 points, or 0.02 per cent, to 4,555.65; and the Nasdaq Composite lost 27.56 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 14,238.30.
The STOXX 600 index rose 0.69 per cent, as Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index gained 0.15 per cent.
The US central bank has raised benchmark borrowing costs by more than five percentage points since March 2022 as part of a global monetary tightening cycle.
"Weaker (economic) data and weaker inflation in the U.S. has given markets hope you are going to start to see rate cuts," said Peter Doherty, investment management director at Arbuthnot Latham in London.
"But the debate is whether we should be taking profits now," he added, given the potential for a "re-acceleration of US growth," after the world's largest economy confounded recession forecasts throughout 2023.
Despite optimism having surged across global markets this month, there may also be a lull ahead as investors position their portfolios for 2024, some analysts said.
US 10-year Treasury yields , which set the tone for borrowing costs worldwide, rose to 4.4724 per cent from 4.416 per cent previously. They were still comfortably below the 5 per cent milestone reached last month.
Germany's 10-year bund yield rose for a third session, reflecting pushback from European Central Bank officials against speculation they were ready to start thinking about cutting rates.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency against six peers, was down 0.33 per cent, nearing a three-month low as rate cut bets reduced the appeal of holding dollars.
In Europe, however, markets reflected a growing pessimism about central banks loosening monetary policy.
Euro zone government bond yields were on track to close the week higher as investors balanced recession fears against comments from European Central Bank policymakers pushing against market expectations for rate cuts in 2024.
Germany's benchmark 10-year bund yield has risen 5 basis points in a week.
In the UK, where the Bank of England is now viewed as having to keep interest rates at a 15-year high until late next summer, sterling rose to the highest since early September.