By Marc Jones and Swati Pandey
LONDON/SYDNEY, Oct 8 (Reuters) - World shares headed for a
one-month high and oil and metal markets rallied on Thursday, as
hopes for more U.S. and global stimulus offset Europe's rising
numbers of coronavirus cases and lockdowns.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.4% and Wall
Street futures ESc1 were up 0.5%.
Signs Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could
still agree aid for airlines helped offset Trump's ending talks
for a bigger plan. The dollar was in the doldrums after the
minutes of the Federal Reserve's last meeting showed backing for
more support if required. "We are still basically tracking risk appetite" said Ned
Rumpeltin, the European head of currency strategy at TD
Securities, pointing to the steady rise in stock markets as
investors bide their time until the U.S. election. "I wonder how
long that can last."
The euro was little changed EUR= . So were European
government bond markets as the European Central Bank prepared to
release later the minutes of its recent meeting.
The dollar barely moved against the yen JPY= at 106.The
New Zealand dollar NZD= was the liveliest among G10
currencies, dropping as much as half a percent after central
bank officials again hinted they could introduce negative
interest rates, though it had mostly recovered in Europe.
MSCI's Emerging Market currency index was at to a month high
.MIEM00000CUS thanks to decent gains for the Korean won,
Mexican peso, Israeli shekel, Pakistani ruppee and Hungarian
forint, though Turkey's battered lira TRY= fell to a record
low. EMRG/FRX
The Turkish central bank is expected to support the lira,
but doubts persist about how much it can do. It has already
burnt through most of its reserves and the country is now
involved in increasing numbers of geopolitical skirmishes.
STORMY TIMES
In commodities, oil rose above $42 a barrel, supported by
output shutdowns in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and the prospect of
more supply losses in Norway, as well as by hopes for some U.S.
coronavirus relief aid.
Oil and gas workers have withdrawn from offshore U.S. Gulf
production facilities as Hurricane Delta was forecast to
intensify into a Category 3 storm. Nearly 1.5 million barrels of
daily output was halted.
Brent crude LCOc1 rose 59 cents, or 1.4%, to $42.58 a
barrel, after falling 1.6% on Wednesday. U.S. West Texas
Intermediate CLc1 added 45 cents, or 1.1%, to $40.40 after
falling 1.8%.
"If Delta stays weak, the oil rally could quickly run out of
steam," said Jeffrey Halley, analyst at brokerage OANDA.
Gold XAU= had shaken off some weakness in Asia and was
last up 0.2% at $1,886 per ounce, leaving it nearly 25% higher
for the year.
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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 Wolrd Index Market Cap http://tmsnrt.rs/2EmTD6j
Stocks versus COVID https://tmsnrt.rs/2GCoYoa
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