Asian stocks struck a range of new peaks on Wednesday as risk appetites were whetted by a feast of upbeat manufacturing surveys that confirmed a synchronised upturn in the world economy was well under way.
Activity was especially strong in Europe, lifting bond yields there and driving the euro to within a whisker of its highest in three years against a beleaguered U.S. dollar.
Investors also piled into emerging market trades, delivering a record peak for Philippine stocks, a 24-year top for Thailand and a decade-high for Hong Kong.
MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4 percent, having jumped 1.4 percent on Tuesday in its best performance since last March.
At 579.46 the index is creeping ever closer to the all-time peak of 591.50 reached in late 2007.
Chinese blue chips gained for the fourth session running, while Japan's Nikkei was closed for holidays.
Wall Street started the new year as it ended the old, scoring another set of record closing peaks. The Dow rose 0.42 percent, while the S&P 500 gained 0.83 percent and the Nasdaq 1.5 percent.
The gains in riskier assets came as industry surveys from India to Germany to Canada showed quickening activity.
"The breadth of the recovery is extraordinary," said Deutsche Bank macro strategist Alan Ruskin, noting that of 31 countries covered, only three failed to show growth while all the largest manufacturing sectors improved.
"The global economy and risky assets are now solidly into a virtuous cycle, whereby growth is propelling risky assets like equities higher, that are then supporting growth," he added.
"This is not a global economy in need of the extraordinary emergency style policies pursued by the likes of the ECB and Bank of Japan."
EURO ZONE OUTPERFORMS
Indeed, with euro zone factories expanding at their fastest pace in more than two decades, speculation is rampant that the European Central Bank will start to wind down its asset buying programme later this year.
As a result, yields on 10-year German paper climbed 4 basis points to a two-month top at 0.467 percent, which in turn pushed up rates across the European periphery.
Spanish yields, for instance, have risen 16 basis points in just three sessions to reach 1.616 percent.
The prospect that other major central banks could play catch up with the Federal Reserve on tightening undermined the dollar, which sank to a three-month trough against its peers.
The euro stretched as far as a four-month top of US$1.2082, adding to its 2017 gains of 14 percent. It was last at US$1.2050 and bulls were eyeing the September peak of US$1.2092, a break of which would return to ground last trod in early 2015.
The single currency has already reached a two-year high on the yen at 135.64, while the dollar lagged far behind at 112.32 yen.
The weakness of the dollar has been a positive for commodities priced in the currency.
Spot gold reached its highest since mid-September at US$1,321.33, before edging back to US$1,313.48 per ounce.
Oil prices hit their highest since mid-2015, only to stall when major pipelines in Libya and the UK restarted and U.S production soared to the strongest in more than four decades.
Brent crude futures were trading 3 cents lower at $66.54 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures nudged up 1 cent to US$60.38 a barrel.
Reuters
Wed Jan 03 2018
A stock quotation board displaying Japan's Nikkei average is seen after a ceremony marking the end of trading in 2017 at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo, Japan, Dec 29, 2017. - REUTERS
Gabung 'soft' dan 'hard policy' untuk didik masyarakat tentang pemakanan sihat - Pakar
Kos sara hidup yang tinggi menjadi antara faktor kenapa masyarakat lebih memilih makanan kurang sihat kerana harganya yang lebih murah.
Kru Shenzhou-18 berjaya masuk stesen angkasa Tiangong
Kru Shenzhou-18 China berjaya memasuki stesen angkasa Tiangong selepas kapal angkasa yang dinaiki mereka bercantum dengan kombinasi stesen angkasa secara automatik pada 5.04 pagi Jumaat.
Kemas kini Windows 11 papar iklan pada menu Start, bagaimana untuk matikannya?
Microsoft memberi ruang untuk pengguna Windows 11 menyembunyikan paparan iklan berkenaan.
AWANI Ringkas: Ketelusan boleh elak pembaziran
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari di Astro AWANI menerusi AWANI Ringkas.
Pemilik stesen minyak diminta lapor KPDN jika diancam sindiket
Beliau berkata KPDN akan merahsiakan maklumat diterima kerana sedar ada pemilik stesen minyak yang enggan membuat laporan walaupun diancam.
Indeks harga pengeluar Malaysia naik 1.6 peratus
Indeks Harga Pengeluar Malaysia yang mengukur perubahan harga barangan di peringkat pengeluar, meningkat 1.6 peratus pada Mac 2024.
Kadar penerimagunaan 5G hampir 36 peratus, liputan 80.3 peratus - Fahmi
Kadar penerimagunaan 5G di negara ini telah mencecah hampir 36 peratus setakat pertengahan bulan ini, manakala kadar liputan perkhidmatan itu telah mencapai 80.3 peratus pada Februari lepas.
Kontroversi UM: Mahasiswa tuntut penjelasan atau boikot kuliah
Sekumpulan mahasiswa Universiti Malaya yang berang dengan tindakan Institut Pengajian China, Universiti Malaya (UM) menjemput individu pro-Zionis, akhirnya turun berdemonstrasi bagi menyuarakan bantahan dan akan memboikot kuliah pengajian jika tiada reaksi dari pihak pentadbiran UM.
Lima anggota polis disyaki samun berdepan tindakan dalaman
Lima anggota polis antara tujuh individu yang ditahan kerana disyaki terbabit dalam kes samun warga asing membabitkan wang tunai berjumlah RM260,000, berdepan tindakan dalaman antaranya pertukaran jabatan.
JKDM beli 20 anjing pengesan dadah libat kos RM1.9 juta
JKDM dalam proses perolehan 20 ekor anjing pengesan dadah serta tiga unit mesin pengimbas 'backscatter' dalam usaha perangi dadah.
Airbus unjur pesawat meningkat kepada 15,000 di Asia Pasifik
Pengeluar pesawat berpangkalan di Perancis, Airbus, mengunjurkan kumpulan pesawat di Asia Pasifik meningkat kepada lebih 15,000 daripada 6,000 ketika ini dalam tempoh 20 tahun akan datang.