Stocks in major markets rose yesterday as the dollar softened the most in a month against major currencies after surprisingly weak US data.

The US currency retraced gains after earlier hitting a 12-year high versus the euro, pressured by a third-straight decline in monthly US retail sales.

Crude fell on concerns over a supply build at the delivery point for US oil.

Stocks rose on Wall Street, led by bank shares after the Federal Reserve approved most of their capital plans, many of which include share repurchases and dividend hikes.

The S&P 500, however, was on track for its third consecutive weekly decline, hit by the prospect of higher US interest rates and the effect of the strong dollar on corporate earnings.

The much stronger-than-expected payrolls report last Friday cemented views of a hike coming sooner than previously expected.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 194.07 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 17,829.46, the S&P 500 gained 19.76 points, or 0.97 per cent, to 2,060, and the Nasdaq Composite added 30.54 points, or 0.63 per cent, to 4,880.48.

MSCI’s main world stocks index rose 0.8 per cent, posting its first gain in five sessions.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares ended flat after touching a seven-and-a-half-year high on the European Central Bank’s €1 trillion bond purchase program that began this week.

The euro bounced back from 12-year lows hit overnight under pressure from the ECB’s programme. The bloc’s single currency was up 0.6 per cent at $1.0604 after earlier hitting $1.0494.

The dollar has strengthened on the diverging policies of the Fed against other major central banks.

In addition to the ECB, other central banks becoming more accommodative include Japan and South Korea, which surprised with an interest rate cut hot on the heels of one from Thailand.

The Fed’s policy-setting committee meets next week. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, fell 0.4 per cent to 99.4.

Brent and US crude surrendered early gains in volatile trading before the expiry of their front-month contracts and on fears of a supply build at the delivery point for US oil.

Brent fell 0.8 per cent to $57.06 a barrel, while US crude futures drop­ped 1.1 per cent to $47.64 a barrel.

Copper prices rose 1.9 per cent as the greenback weakened, even as demand for spot copper in China strengthened only marginally this week after most factories returned from near month-long Lunar New Year holidays.

Spot gold, however, posted its ninth consecutive daily decline.

US debt prices pared gains after a soft bond auction. Yields on the benchmark 10-year note edged up to 2.116, their price down 2/32.

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