In currency markets, lower yields undermined the dollar, with the dollar index touching a two-month low of 92.182. It fell 0.462 per cent, with the euro up 0.5 per cent to US$1.188. — Reuters pic
MSCI’s all-country world stock index rose 0.2 per cent to 592.58, adding to a week-long rally that has seen the benchmark for global equity markets advance more than 7 per cent. The index is on course for its best week in nearly seven months.Biden expanded narrow leads over President Donald Trump in the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Georgia, but Georgia ordered a recount that could lead to a long period of uncertainty.
“The unpredictability of a president makes investing in any area that he can potentially touch, like China, fraught with risk. All a sudden China is a less risky investment without Trump,” Ghriskey said. But a surge in coronavirus cases, both in Europe and the United States, put a damper on the recovery outlook and investor enthusiasm that had embraced a scenario of Republicans retaining control of the Senate during a Biden administration.
The US unemployment rate fell to a lower-than-expected 6.9 per cent from 7.9 per cent in September, while growth in private payrolls blew past the consensus estimate, adding 906,000 jobs, especially in the hard hit leisure and entertainment sector. The Bank of England expanded its asset purchase scheme on Thursday, while the Federal Reserve kept its monetary policy loose and pledged to do whatever it takes to sustain a US economic recovery. The European Central Bank is widely expected to announce more stimulus next month.