The euro held near a three-month low against the US dollar yesterday, undermined by the Catalan parliament’s declaration of independence from Spain, while robust corporate earnings reports helped a broad advance in equity markets.

The Catalan declaration, made after a secret ballot, is now likely to be ruled illegal by Spain’s constitutional court.

The euro had its worst day against the dollar in 16 months on Thursday after the European Central Bank said it would cut its bond purchases in half to €30 billion a month from January.

Stronger-than-expected US third-quarter GDP data helped bolster the dollar. The US economy grew at a three per cent annual rate from July to September, showing resilience even as recent storms hurt consumer spending.

The dollar index rose 0.45 per cent, with the euro down 0.63 per cent to $1.1577.

Gains in the dollar were pared after a Bloomberg report that said US President Donald Trump was leaning toward Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell as the next US central bank chairman.

US Treasury note yields turned lower, following the Catalan news and Bloomberg report on Mr Trump’s possible Fed chief pick.

Benchmark 10-year notes rose 9/32 to yield 2.4228 per cent, from 2.454 per cent on Thursday.

The 30-year bond last rose 16/32 in price to yield 2.9356 per cent, from 2.961 per cent.

Gold edged higher yesterday, reversing earlier losses after the Catalonian parliament’s independence declaration from Spain led investors to seek safety from political upheaval.

Spot gold added 0.4 per cent to $1,271.14 an ounce.

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.37 per cent.

On Wall Street, gains were led by robust technology earnings and third-quarter GDP growth that lifted investor sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 27.48 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 23,428.34, the S&P 500 gained 17.6 points, or 0.69 per cent, to 2,578 and the Nasdaq Composite added 117.37 points, or 1.79 per cent, to 6,674.14.

Healthy results helped Amazon jump 11.8 per cent, while Google-parent Alphabet gained 6.0 per cent and Microsoft advanced 7.2 per cent. That drove the S&P technology index up about two per cent.

Oil prices rose more one per cent on support among the world’s top producers for extending a deal to cut output and as the dollar retreated from three-month peaks.

US crude rose 2.03 per cent to $53.71 per barrel and Brent was last at $60.21, up 1.53 per cent on the day.