Reuters: US Dollar Report: GLOBAL MARKETS-ECB's bond-buy plan buoys markets, U.S. payrolls eyed

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-ECB's bond-buy plan buoys markets, U.S. payrolls eyed Sep 7th 2012, 07:39 Fri Sep 7, 2012 3:39am EDT * Euro at 2-month highs against dollar and yen * European shares extend gains, await U.S. payrolls report * Spanish 10-year yield drop below 6 percent LONDON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Stock markets in Europe and Asia gained on Friday, and yields on the debt of struggling euro zone nations fell as investors welcomed the European Central Bank's latest bond-buying plan and positioned for a strong U.S. jobs report. Expectations of a big rise in U.S. nonfarm payrolls numbers, due out at 1230 GMT, have risen since data on private sector employment showed robust growth for last month. But the markets main driver has been the ECB's new and potentially unlimited bond buying plan, which is hoped will lower the borrowing costs facing indebted nations like Spain and Italy and ease fears over the future of the single currency. The broad FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European companies was up 0.3 percent at 1,107.73 points in early trade after climbing 2.6 percent on Thursday when the plan was announced. "I am positive on the market in the near term. You have got the policy response coming through, valuations are still OK, and the macroeconomic backdrop isn't all that bad. These three things add to the momentum in the market," said Graham Bishop, equity strategist at Exane BNP Paribas. Reaction to the ECB programme had earlier sent U.S. stocks to multi-year highs and put Asian shares on track for their biggest daily gain in six weeks on Friday. The gains have lifted the MSCI's world equity index back to levels last seen in early May after a rise of about 2.4 percent over the past 24 hours. The euro rose 0.3 percent to a two-month peak against the dollar of $1.2670 and also hit a two-month high against the safe-haven yen and a one-month peak versus the Swiss franc in response to the ECB plan. In the debt market Spanish 10-year government bond yields were 19 basis points lower in early trade at 5.89 percent and below 6 percent for the first time since May, while equivalent Italian bonds were down 13 basis points at 5.19 percent. 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