World stocks rose, global bond yields fell and the dollar weakened after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell bolstered expectations the Fed would cut U.S. interest rates soon.
The Europe gains follow healthy rises in Asia, where MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares ex-Japan rose 1 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei added 0.5 per cent. “Given we are in the longest expansion and have only had rates lifted to 2.5 per cent, for me it begs the question, is a soft landing possible?”A strong June U.S. jobs report earlier this month heightened expectations the Fed was more likely to cut by 25 basis points than by 50. But Powell’s cautious stance helped fuel bets on heftier easing at its next policy meeting on July 30-31.
The rate cut prospects also weighed on the dollar. The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies slipped 0.2 per cent to 96.929, extending losses for a second straight session after reaching a three-week peak on Tuesday.
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