LONDON: Signs of stabilization in China's economy and a weaker dollar helped oil markets to their best run in more than three years on Friday, while global stocks edged up after JP Morgan's results began the corporate earnings season in style.
The earnings season's opening is likely to divert attention from the ongoing U.S.-China and U.S.-Europe trade war.Oil provided the big milestones. Brent was at US$71.4 a barrel, having broken back through the US$70 threshold this week, and U.S. WTI was heading for a sixth straight week of gains for the first time since early 2016.
Commodities have had the best first-quarter start ever, Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts said, calling the annualized returns they are tracking the strongest in the past 100 years.Taking advantage of strong prices and subdued valuations for oil producers, Chevron picked up Anadarko Petroleum Corp for US$33 billion.Despite a subdued Asia session, Chinese blue chips managed to recover and close nearly flat. Higher Chinese iron ore prices helped push Australia up 0.85 percent.
The move in German bonds ignored a report by Der Spiegel magazine that Berlin was set to halve its economic growth forecast for 2019, to 0.5 percent from 1.0 percent.
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