NEW YORK — Major stock markets rose on Wednesday after surprisingly upbeat Chinese international trade data offered hope Asia’s biggest economy is finally stabilising.
In turn, the US dollar rose to a two-week high against the euro, as stronger Chinese economic growth might allow the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates again.
Broader equity indices were also helped by a rise in US bank stocks after JPMorgan Chase’s first quarter earnings fell nearly 7% but beat lowered expectations. European bank stocks rose on optimism about Italy’s fund to shore up weak lenders.
Oil prices slipped after a rise in US oil inventories reported overnight, but crude oil prices have rallied almost 20% in the last week ahead of a meeting of major producers on April 17 which may freeze output.
US crude oil lost nearly 2.0% to $41.40, easing back from a four-month high, but also held above the 200-day moving average around $40.95 as attention turns to this weekend’s meeting of top oil producers in Doha, Qatar.
"The recovery in oil has given the market a little bit of a positive tone this week," said John Brady, managing director at R.J. O’Brien & Associates in Chicago.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 124.27 points, or 0.7%, to 17,845.52, the S&P 500 gained 13.64 points, or 0.66%, to 2,075.36 and the Nasdaq Composite added 55.91 points, or 1.15%, to 4,928.00.
Europe’s FTSEuroFirst index of leading 300 shares posted its biggest gain in a month, rising 2.4% to a two-week high of 1,334 points, and Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC also rose more than 2%.
Gains in equities in Europe were led by banks, which rose more than 5.0%, as investors welcomed assurances from Italy’s economy minister that European authorities will not block the country’s bank fund.
China reported exports jumped 11.5% year on year in March, the first increase since June, well above market forecasts.
Chinese stocks added 1.4%, while Japan’s Nikkei rose 2.8% for its biggest daily gain in six weeks.
JPMorgan Chase said net profit was down nearly 7%, but earnings per share and revenue beat expectations, and its shares rose 3.7%.
Oil at critical juncture
Brent crude was down 1.5% at $44.02 a barrel, after breaching the 200-day moving average around $43.50 on Tuesday, the first time it has scaled this key technical level in almost two years.
Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi ruled out an output cut, in comments to Saudi-owned al-Hayat newspaper published on Wednesday. Saudi Arabia and other oil major producers meet in Qatar on Sunday to discuss a freeze in output to support the price of oil.
The lift in energy overnight temporarily boosted the currencies of countries dependent on commodity exports including the Canadian and Australian dollars, before the rally faded.
The Aussie fell 0.5% against the US dollar while the Canadian dollar fell 0.3%.
The euro fell 0.9% against the dollar to $1.1285, helping the dollar index to climb 0.8% to 94.704 and further away from its near eight-month low of 93.627 struck recently.
US Treasury bond yields were little changed, with the 10-year yielding 1.783%. The dollar’s strength helped drive gold down 0.9% to $1,244 an ounce.
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