* Stocks rise on economic optimism, soothing central banks
* Yield on 10-year Treasury jumps to one-year high
* Oil eyeing $70 per barrel, copper near decade peak
* Dow hits record high, big tech still losers
* GameStop more than doubles in price in trading frenzy
* Reuters Live Markets blog: LIVE/
* Graphic: Global asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn
* Graphic: World FX rates http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
By Marc Jones
LONDON, Feb 25 (Reuters) - World stocks clawed back towards
record highs on their third day of gains on Thursday as the
dollar dropped to a three-year low, after top Federal Reserve
and European Central Bank officials attempted to talk down
rising bond market yields.
There was a lot to keep tabs on. A renewed retail frenzy
re-ignited the likes of GameStop bets on $70 a
barrel oil and a near decade-high in copper prices rallied
commodity currencies /FRX - and despite all the central bank
talk, bond yields were still rising. GVD/EUR
MSCI's world equities index, which spans 50 countries
.MIWD00000PUS , was up 0.45% after gains in Asia and a decent
morning in Europe where oil and gas stocks enjoyed a 2% jump,
but things were starting to turn bumpy. .EU .N
Nasdaq futures were down 1% on Wall Street. The index has
dropped for seven out of the last eight days as investors have
moved out the super-charged tech and internet stocks that surged
when COVID-19 forced people to stay at home.
Apple AAPL.O , Amazon AMZN.O , Microsoft MSFT.O ,
Facebook FB.O and Netflix NFLX.O were all down between 0.9%
and 1.3% before the bell.
"There are two clear stories now" said CMC Markets senior
analyst Michael Hewson. "You have the concerns about rising
yields, and they are continuing to move higher today, and then
you have got an economic recovery story, which is helping lift
the more moderately-valued parts of the market."
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that
U.S. rates could remain low for years and ECB board member
Isabel Schnabel said on Thursday the bank would fight any big
increases in inflation-adjusted market rates. "A too-abrupt increase in real interest rates on the back of
improving global growth prospects could jeopardise the economic
recovery," she said. "Therefore, we are monitoring financial
market developments closely."
But bond markets were not playing ball. Benchmark Germany
Bund yields climbed 4 basis points and U.S. 10-year Treasury
yields hit 1.45% US10YT=RR and their way to their biggest
monthly rise since Donald Trump's U.S. election victory in late
2016.
Focus will be on the Labor Department's weekly jobless
claims report, which is expected to show fewer Americans filed
new claims for unemployment benefits last week.
In the FX markets, the safe-haven U.S. dollar index USD=
slumped to a three-year low as the Fed's stance, ongoing
progress with COVID vaccination programmes and commodity market
uplift boosted riskier currencies instead. /FRX
The Australian and Canadian dollars both hit three-year
highs of $0.7980 AUD=D4 and C$1.2477 CAD=D4 per U.S. dollar
respectively.
The euro touched a six-week high of $1.2235 EUR= too,
whereas the safe-haven yen and Swiss franc both weakened JPY= .
"It is pretty clear that there is a strong concentration in
the commodity currencies," said Saxo Bank's John Hardy. "Even
with emerging markets you are seeing it to a degree," he added,
pointing to how big energy importers like Turkey's lira had
faded.
MARATHON NOT A SPRINT
Brent oil climbed to a 13-month high of $67.30 LCOc1
CLc1 of after U.S. government data on Wednesday showed a drop
in crude output as a deep freeze in Texas disrupted production
last week. O/R
Copper prices CMCU3 moved to over $9,500 a tonne in
London. The key industrial metal now at its highest level in
almost a decade and could log its biggest monthly gains in 15
years this month. In a possible sign of a renewed retail-driven frenzy in
equity markets, GameStop's GME.N Frankfurt-listed shares
GMEa.F GME.N trebled as they opened on Thursday,
overshooting the videogame retailer's 100% surge on Wall Street
overnight.
Other so-called "stonks" - an intentional misspelling of
"stocks" - favoured by retail traders on sites such as Reddit's
WallStreetBets had also leapt again, although explanations for
the moves were tenuous.
Some online stock watchers had even pointed to a picture
posted by an activist GameStop investor of a McDonald's ice
cream cone with a frog emoji as a cryptic sign. "It's a marathon, not a sprint. Whatever happens resist the
urge to sell. The longer we hold the higher it goes," said
@catchme1fyoucan, one user in Italy of the retail trading
platform eToro, in a discussion on GameStop.
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Emerging markets http://tmsnrt.rs/2ihRugV
Global asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn
Up and away: global bond yields on the rise https://tmsnrt.rs/3kesTqW
Commodity currencies on the charge https://tmsnrt.rs/2P5O5nr
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