Reuters: US Dollar Report: GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks rise on central bank hopes, euro flat

Reuters: US Dollar Report Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks rise on central bank hopes, euro flat Jul 27th 2012, 19:13 Fri Jul 27, 2012 3:13pm EDT * Euro rally fades as questions emerge about specific action * German, French leaders voice strong support for euro zone * Oil futures, metals prices also rise * Italian, Spanish bond yields fall By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK, July 27 (Reuters) - Stocks rallied on Friday on expectations the European Central Bank will tackle high borrowing costs hitting Spain and Italy, but the euro pared gains on market uncertainty about the specific action to be taken. Equities held on to their gains after Bloomberg News said ECB President Mario Draghi will meet with Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann to discuss several measures, including bond purchases, to help the euro zone. The French and German governments said they are "determined to do everything to protect the euro zone" and its single currency. The joint statement echoed similar remarks by Draghi on Thursday, but in comments on Friday Germany's Bundesbank pushed back against Draghi's pledge. The heightened expectations about ECB intervention soon helped to push Spanish and Italian bond yields lower. "Fundamentally, there is a lot of uncertainty and still a lot of unanswered questions as to how exactly the ECB plans to bring down sovereign borrowing costs," said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington. "To some extent, the rally in the euro and more broadly equities and risk assets had gotten a little bit ahead of itself." Expectations that the Federal Reserve will act to support the U.S. economy also grew after data showed U.S. gross domestic product expanded at a 1.5 percent annual rate from April through June, roughly in line with lowered expectations. Market expectations are high for another round of asset purchases from the Fed, which in the past have sparked rallies in stocks and commodities. Markets are also beginning to price in a move from the ECB, possibly in the form of bond purchases. Both central banks hold separate meetings next week. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 188.37 points, or 1.46 percent, to 13,076.30. The S&P 500 Index gained 24.07 points, or 1.77 percent, to 1,384.09. The Nasdaq Composite added 55.66 points, or 1.92 percent, to 2,948.91. The FTSEurofirst 300 closed up 1.33 percent and an MSCI gauge of global equities added 1.6 percent. Copper prices jumped 1.3 percent while Brent and U.S. oil prices rose for a fourth day running, although they were both still negative for the week after plummeting Monday. The euro pared most of its gains after hitting a three-week high versus the U.S. dollar. It was last up 0.1 percent at $1.2293, after hitting a session high of $1.2389. On Tuesday the single currency was at a two-year low of $1.2040. In his statement on Thursday Draghi appeared to target the bond market, saying the monitoring of rising borrowing costs in bloc members was within the ECB's mandate. Ten-year Spanish bond yields fell to 6.731 percent, the lowest since July 17, while the Italian benchmark bond yield dipped below 6 percent for the first time in a week. As investors turned towards relatively riskier assets, safe-haven investments fell. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was down a full point in price, while the yield rose to 1.5463 percent compared with 1.44 percent late on Thursday. Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions