World stock indexes rose and the euro fell yesterday after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi renewed a pledge to keep monetary policy loose for an extended period.
A recovery in Russian and Chinese shares also helped emerging markets halt a near-unbroken three-week run of falls.
Draghi renewed a pledge to keep monetary policy accommodative for as long as it takes to push ultra-low inflation in the euro zone closer to two per cent.
Investors, however, have been rattled by this week's worse-than-expected economic data from euro zone countries, leaving Europe's equity markets pretty much where they began the month.
There was more bad news on Wednesday, with German business sentiment dropping for a fifth straight month in September to its lowest level since April 2013 and the Bank of Spain warning that Spanish private consumption growth and new job creation were likely to have slowed in the third quarter.
Despite the weak European data, MSCI's global share index was up 0.3 per cent, while European shares ended up 0.8 per cent.
The MSCI emerging stocks index edged up 0.3 per cent as it attempted to make only its second daily gain in 15 sessions.
US equities resumed their climb. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 123.97 points, or 0.73 per cent, at 17,179.84. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 11.59 points, or 0.58 per cent, at 1,994.36. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 38.56 points, or 0.86 per cent, at 4,547.25.
“This is a market that continues to attract capital from other asset classes, because where else can investors go for yield?,” said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of SolarisGroup in Bedford Hills, New York.
Also helping US stocks was a strong report on the housing market. In the foreign exchange market, the euro sank 0.4 per cent to a 14-month low under $1.28 and was last at $1.2788.
US Treasuries yields were little changed on a lack of clarity surrounding Federal Reserve monetary policy. Benchmark US 10-year Treasury notes were last down 6/32 in price to yield 2.55 per cent, from 2.53 per cent late on Tuesday. German bond yields inched lower following the German data.
Brent crude fell for a third day, with futures for November delivery down 53 cents at $96.32 a barrel, slipping further on inflated supplies and weak economic data from Europe. US crude was up 41 cents at $91.97.
The pick-up in Russian and Chinese shares boosted emergingmarkets while the US-led air strikes in the Middle East pushed investors toward safe-haven assets, cooling the recent pressure on emerging markets from rising global bond yields.