Strong data from China kept world shares near a record high yesterday, sent copper to a 4-1/2 month peak while emerging market stocks have achieved a near a five percent gain over the last five days.
Figures from Beijing showed China’s economy grew at a faster-than-forecast 6.9 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter thanks to a pick-up in industrial output and domestic consumption and as investment remained strong.
Wall Street, which had closed on Friday with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial at all time highs, was expected to start the week little changed and be dominated by a blizzard of company earnings releases.
Asia shares had hit a two-year high overnight and Europe’s bourses managed a 0.1 per cent rise as they looked to score their fourth session of unbroken gains.
The jump in copper and other industrial metals, as well as higher oil prices following the Chinese data, meant mining firms led the charge though most sectors also shuffled higher.
Britain’s Sterling and the euro both eased against the dollar having jumped on Friday and as officials from both sides went into Brexit talks in Brussels. The euro was worth 87.71 pence.
Emerging market stocks continued their blistering run following the upbeat Chinese data, with MSCI’s widely tracked 24-country EM index up for a sixth day during which it has surged almost five per cent.
It took the index to a more than two-year high too and Morgan Stanley said EM assets had now “passed the recent test of higher volatility with a high level of resilience.”
“Our conviction to stay bullish on EM local rates, FX and sovereign credit remains unwavering,” its analysts said.
In commodities, oil also inched higher, consolidating gains made last week on signs of lower US inventories and stronger demand.
US crude steadied at $46.47 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent was at $48.90.
Gold gained too, rising to $1,231 an ounce in London, though it was copper that shone brightest of the metals, climbing one per cent to $5,983.50 a tonne, having earlier struck its highest since March 2.
Shanghai Futures Exchange copper rose 1.4 per cent to 47,810 yuan ($7,060) a tonne and another heavily used industrial metal, zinc, jumped almost two per cent.
In the bond markets, US 10-year Treasury yields, which fell to as low as 2.279 on Friday, were steady at 2.31 per cent as the dollar drifted to 112.445 yen.
Euro zone government bonds also barely budged, biding their time ahead of this week’s European Central Bank meeting for the latest signals on how the central bank plans to scale back its ultra-loose monetary policy.