Stocks push higher, dollar pauses as markets await Trump appointments
Markets watch for Trump's Treasury and trade chief appointments
Nvidia earnings on Wednesday may set near-term tone for stocks
Oil, gold buoyed by heightened tensions in Russia-Ukraine war
Updates with European market open
By Lawrence White and Kevin Buckland
LONDON, Nov 19 (Reuters) -An index of global stocks rose 1% on Tuesday while U.S. bond yields and the dollar hung back from multi-month highs, as traders awaited President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet selection and sought to gauge the outlook for U.S. interest rates.
Tech shares advanced, tracking Wall Street's recovery from last week's steep losses, although Nvidia's upcoming earnings on Wednesday limited the scope for big moves.
MSCI's index of world stocks .MIWD00000PUS had snapped a four-day losing streak on Monday with a 0.35% climb, and was up 1% in the latest session on Tuesday.
Markets have pared bets for a quarter-point interest-rate cut at the Federal Reserve's next meeting in December to less than 59%, down from close to 62% a day earlier, according to CME FedWatch.
Trump's mooted fiscal spending, higher tariffs and tighter immigration policies are seen as inflationary by analysts, potentially impeding Fed rate cuts, which are already being hampered by a run of resilient economic data.
Trump has begun making appointments, filling health and defence roles last week, but key positions for financial markets - Treasury secretary and trade representative - have yet to be announced.
Europe's benchmark STOXX index .STOXX rose 0.2% in early trading, following gains of 0.5% for Japan's Nikkei .N225 and a 0.8% rise in Australia's equity benchmark .AXJO which took it to a record intraday high. Taiwanese shares .TWII advanced 1.3%.
Chinese markets were weak though, with investors mulling the impact of potential Trump tariffs and waiting on more details of stimulus from Beijing. Mainland blue chips .CSI300 dropped 1.2%.
U.S. S&P 500 futures EScv1 pointed 0.1% higher, following a 0.4% advance overnight for the cash index .SPX.
Amid a lack of market-moving news, "the marginal driver of asset prices right now is how the incoming Trump administration will impact economic conditions, international trade and global geopolitics," said Kyle Rodda, senior financial markets analyst at Capital.com.
"Concurrently, the markets are trying to estimate how those policies will impact interest rate settings, especially the Fed, with the markets walking back the depth of rate cuts previously discounted into the curve."
DOLLAR HOLDS BELOW PEAK
U.S. Treasury yields extended overnight declines, with the two-year yield US2YT=RR ticking down to 4.2655% and the 10-year yield US10YT=RR edging down to 4.3844%.
That kept pressure on the dollar, which languished close to its overnight low versus major peers. The dollar index =USD, which tracks the currency against a basket of six others, was little changed at 106.23, close to Monday's trough at 106.12. It reached the highest in a year at 107.07 on Thursday.
The dollar sagged 0.17% to 154.16 yen JPY=EBS, while firming slightly to $1.0586 per euro EUR=EBS.
The yen was supported by comments from Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato, who reiterated on Tuesday that the government would "respond appropriately to excessive moves" in the yen exchange rate.
Bitcoin BTC=, which surged to a record high of $93,480 last week on bets for more favourable cryptocurrency regulation under Trump, pushed back towards that level on Tuesday, rising 0.37% to $91,688.
Safe-haven gold XAU= added 0.28% to $2,619 after jumping nearly 2% on Monday, its biggest one-day advance since mid-August, amid softness in the dollar and heightened concerns about the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
In a significant reversal of Washington's policy, President Joe Biden's administration allowed Ukraine to use U.S.-made weapons to strike deep into Russia, two U.S. officials and a source familiar with the decision said on Sunday.
The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia would respond to what it called a reckless decision by the Biden administration, having previously warned that such a decision would raise the risk of a confrontation with the U.S.-led NATO alliance.
Oil prices were broadly steady, holding onto gains of about $2 a barrel in the previous session. Brent crude futures LCOc1 fell 0.2% to $73.14 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures CLc1 were at $68.97 a barrel, down 0.27%.
Crude was also buoyed by the shutdown of Norway's massive Johan Sverdrup oilfield due to a power outage.
World FX rates YTD http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Asian stock markets https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
Reporting by Lawrence White and Kevin Buckland; Editing by Sam Holmes and Christina Fincher
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
