Key US equity indexes swept to record intraday highs on Black Friday thanks to gains in consumer staple stocks, while European shares also advanced, and a stabilisation in US Treasury yields led investors to sell the dollar.
The small cap Russell 2000 also hit a record intraday high on a day when trading volumes are expected to be relatively thin, with the US stock market closing at 1pm ET (1700 GMT).
The S&P 500 consumer staples index was last up 0.7 per cent, while the consumer discretionary sector gained 0.2 per cent on Black Friday, which traditionally kicks off the crucial US holiday shopping season.
European shares were headed for a third week of gains, even as commodities stocks fell after a tumble in oil prices. Uncertainty over whether Opec will agree to cut production at the group’s meeting next week weighed on crude prices.
Over the past few trading sessions, the three main US indexes have hit all-time highs and closed at record levels multiple times.
Those gains came as investors see US President-elect Donald Trump’s promises of tax cuts, higher spending on infrastructure and less regulation as beneficial to certain industries, including banking, industrials and healthcare.
MSCI’s all-country world equity index was last up 1.48 points, or 0.36 per cent, at 414.61. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 51.19 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 19,134.37. The S&P 500 was up 5.5 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 2,210.22. The Nasdaq Composite was up 9.00 points, or 0.17 per cent, at 5,389.68.Europe’s broad FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.24 per cent, at 1,350.93.
While positive for stocks, Trump’s surprise victory has sent US Treasury yields higher and prices lower as investors bet his pro-growth and inflationary policies will erode the value of US bonds.
US Treasuries were last steady after two-year yields hit a 6 1/2-year high of 1.1700 per cent overnight as investors evaluated how much further the selloff had to run.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was last down 0.3 per cent at 101.390 as investors took advantage of the pullback in US bond yields to lock in gains that have propelled the currency to a nearly 14-year peak.
Benchmark oil contracts remained on track for a second straight week of gains despite Friday’s losses. Brent crude was last down $1.28, or 2.61 per cent, at $47.72 a barrel. US crude was down $1.23, or 2.56 per cent, at $46.73 per barrel.
Gold prices tumbled to a nine-and-ahalf-month low of $1,171.2100 an ounce, partly on expectations of a US interest rate rise from the Federal Reserve next month.