London/Sydney — World stocks edged higher after a raft of Chinese data beat expectations on Wednesday, and though benchmark bond yields and the Aussie dollar did the same, Europe struggled to join in.
Japan’s Nikkei closed up 0.25% after hitting a five-month peak while the Shanghai Composite made 0.3% to score its highest close since March 21 2018 after jumping 2.4% on Tuesday. Investors reacted by buying the Australian dollar, often a liquid proxy for China plays, which pushed up 0.3% to a two-month top at $0.7206.
In currency markets, the dollar finally managed to top resistance on the yen at ¥112.13 to reach its highest since December at ¥112.16. Against a basket of major currencies, the dollar was a tad weaker at 96.908 but still within the 95.00 to 97.70 range that has held for the past six months. In commodity markets, the general improvement in risk sentiment saw spot gold slip to its lowest for the year so far. It was last up 0.2% at $1,279.25 an ounce.