GLOBAL MARKETS-Equities, oil prices gain as Suez Canal shutdown continues

By David Randall
NEW YORK, March 26 (Reuters) - Global equity benchmarks and
oil prices rose Friday while safe havens such as the dollar and
U.S. Treasuries dipped as hopes for a global economic recovery
overshadowed the continued blockage of one of the world's most
vital shipping lanes.
More than 30 oil tankers are waiting to traverse the Suez
Canal, which has been blocked since Wednesday after a container
ship ran aground. It may take weeks to free the beached vessel,
though analysts said that low seasonal demand for oil may
mitigate the impact of the blockade. The dollar rose to a new nine-month high against the
Japanese yen of 109.44 yen JPY= , reflecting investor
expectations of robust U.S. economic growth as it accelerates
its vaccine rollout. Overall, the dollar index =USD edged
0.013% lower against a basket of six currencies, with the euro
EUR= up 0.14% to $1.1781.
"We left 2020 with the validation of the consensus view the
dollar would weaken," said Vincent Manuel, chief investment
officer at Indosuez Wealth Management.
"We have woken up in 2021 facing the reality that the U.S.
is growing much quicker than Europe ... so we have a massive
divergence."
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS
gained 0.65% following broad gains in Europe and Asia.
Business morale in Europe's biggest economy, Germany, is
back to its best in almost two years thanks to recovering global
demand for manufactured goods, data on Friday showed.
In morning trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial
Average .DJI rose 132.6 points, or 0.41%, to 32,752.08, the
S&P 500 .SPX gained 13.94 points, or 0.36%, to 3,923.46 and
the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 24.58 points, or 0.19%, to
13,002.26.
Bond yields were slightly up on the day, but 10-year
Treasuries were on track for their biggest weekly yield drop
since June.
Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR fell 16/32 in price to
yield 1.6689%, from 1.614% late on Thursday.
Weekly money flow data from Bank of America showed global
investors have been darting for safety this week amid concerns
over rising coronavirus cases in Europe and the potential for
global shipping to slow given the blockade of the Suez Canal.
They pumped $45.6 billion into cash funds, the largest since
April 2020 when COVID-19 was spreading fast.
Turkey's markets were struggling to settle after the lira's
near 10% slump triggered by President Tayyip Erdogan's latest
central bank chief sacking, which has raised worries about a
full-blown crisis that would require capital controls.
EMRG/FRX
Blue chip Chinese stocks .CSI300 rebounded more than 2%
though after a three-day losing streak, which, like emerging
market shares generally .MSCIEF , had left them at the lowest
level of the year.
"All the sanctions (on China) so far have been largely
symbolic and should have little economic impact. But the
Sino-U.S. confrontation is affecting market sentiment. It could
take some time for them to come to any compromise," said
Yasutada Suzuki, head of emerging market investment at Sumitomo
Mitsui Bank.
U.S. crude CLc1 rose 3.53% to $60.63 per barrel and Brent
LCOc1 was at $64.06, up 3.41% on the day.

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Global assets http://tmsnrt.rs/2jvdmXl
Global currencies vs. dollar http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Emerging markets http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
MSCI All Country World Index Market Cap http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j
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