NEW YORK (Reuters) - Equity markets around the world climbed to approach a six-month high on Tuesday, buoyed by a rebound in Chinese stocks, while corporate earnings helped push Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index towards record levels.
People walk past an electronic board showing Japan's Nikkei average outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, March 23, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai/File Photo
Oil prices advanced as the United States’ revived sanctions against major crude exporter Iran.
The rise in stock prices prompted investors to sell safe-haven investments ahead of the first piece of this week’s $78 billion quarterly government refunding, sending U.S. Treasury yields higher.
“It’s the bounce in stocks and other risky assets that caused an uptick in yields,” said Mike Lorizio, head of U.S. Treasuries trading at Manulife Asset Management in Boston.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 171.68 points, or 0.67 percent, to 25,673.86, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 11.49 points, or 0.40 percent, to 2,861.89 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 20.95 points, or 0.27 percent, to 7,880.63.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS gained 0.61 percent, while the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 rose 0.72 percent.
Powered by gains in technology stocks and a strong second-quarter U.S. earnings season amid economic optimism, the S&P 500 was within reach of a record peak it hit on Jan. 26.
Shares of Google’s parent Alphabet (GOOGL.O), Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Facebook (FB.O) were up between 0.3 percent to 0.7 percent.
Chinese stocks rebounded overnight on hopes of fresh government spending, following a four-day selloff that had knocked them down about 6 percent. [.SS]
