World stocks advanced yesterday while the US dollar was near a four-week low against a basket of currencies, a day after Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen expressed confidence in the health of the US economy but offered no fresh hints on the timing of the next interest rate hike.

The MSCI world equity index , which tracks shares in 45 nations, rose to the highest in more than five weeks, and oil prices climbed to a 2016 peak, buoyed by the softer dollar and supply worries.

The dollar ticked up slightly after US Labour Department said nonfarm productivity fell less sharply than was reported in the first quarter, but dropped back near a low hit on Monday.

The Labour Department said productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, contracted at an annualised rate of 0.6 per cent, instead of the 1.0 per cent pace reported last month.

Strength in oil prices bolstered energy shares, which led gains on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 61.06 points, or 0.34 per cent, at 17,981.39, the S&P 500 rose 5.34 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 2,114.75 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 5.19 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 4,963.53.

Europe’s broad FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.51 per cent at 1,358.82, taking cues from Yellen’s remarks on Monday and helped by improving sentiment due to firmer oil prices.

The MSCI world equity index was up 0.63 per cent, on pace for its fourth session of gains.

Oil prices hit their highest in eight months amid falling Nigerian oil output after a spate of attacks on infrastructure. The price of oil has nearly doubled since January, boosted largely by a spate of unplanned outages that have eroded production in Canada, Venezuela, Libya and Nigeria, along with a steady decline in higher-cost US shale output.

Brent crude was last up 1.03 per cent at $51.07 a barrel, while US crude was last up 0.8 per cent at $50.09 (£34.9) per barrel.