The dollar rose and US and European equity markets gained modestly yesterday as analysts saw limited economic impact worldwide by the attacks in Paris on Friday, though the sale of luxury goods and tourism in the French capital may suffer.

Asian shares hit six-week lows overnight as investors bought assets traditionally considered safe havens, including gold, the yen and low-risk government debt. But European shares reversed early losses and the yen later fell as stocks on Wall Street opened higher.

Gold rose from last week’s six-year low as the attacks in Paris, in which 129 people were killed and hundreds wounded, prompted an initial bout of global risk aversion, though investor worries later faded.

The euro was off 0.58 per cent versus the greenback at $1.0715, having pared losses from a near six-and-a-half-month low overnight.

“I’d say the market’s taking relatively in stride what happened in Paris. The euro has been hit for sure, but it’s well off the lows,” said Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in New York.

French shares slightly underperformed – France’s CAC index was down 0.07 per cent – weighed by declines in tourism-related stocks. French hotel group Accor dropped 4.7 per cent and Air France shed 5.7 per cent.

Luxury stocks also slid, though less so. Hermes fell 1.4 per cent, LVMH fell 1.6 per cent and Kering slid 0.8 per cent. Spending byforeign tourists in Paris makes up a large chunk of these companies’ sales.

The STOXX 60 Travel & Leisure index of mostly London-listed shares fell 1.4 per cent amid fears the sector could be impacted by loss of consumer confidence.

MSCI’s all-country world index fell 0.1 per cent, while the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index edged up 0.09 per cent.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 36.34 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 17,281.58.

The S&P 500 gained 3.72 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 2,026.76 but the Nasdaq Composite lost 10.94 points, or 0.22 per cent, to 4,916.95.

The market was oversold after the benchmark S&P 500 had declined over the past six of eight sessions, Saut said.

US Treasuries prices rose slightly on concerns over Friday’s attacks in Paris, though the gains were pared as investors still expect the US Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in December.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury notes rose 8/32 in price to yield 2.2517 per cent.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, was up slightly at 99.179.

The dollar rose against the Japanese yen, adding 0.33 per cent to 123.03 yen per dollar, amid expectations an interest rate hike is likely in the United States in December.

Front-month Brent crude prices were down $1.20 at $43.27 a barrel. US futures fell 58 cents to $40.16 a barrel.

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