European stocks rise as crude oil, gold advance

Bloomberg

European stocks jumped, with miners and energy firms among the biggest gainers as commodities get a boost from the weakest dollar since 2018.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rises at the open, led higher by cyclical shares, as crude oil futures in New York approached $50 a barrel. Gold climbed more than 1% to the highest in almost two months, while the dollar fell and Treasury yields climbed.
Shares jumped in South Korea and Australia, but underperformed in Japan after Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said he’s considering declaring a state of emergency for the Tokyo area to stem a surge
in virus infections. S&P 500
futures edged higher.
Equities are beginning the New Year at rich valuations amid expectations that widespread vaccine distribution in 2021, central bank support and government aid will reignite economic growth and boost corporate profits. Purchasing managers indexes showed factory activity across Asia continued to gain momentum in December, spurred by strong demand for the region’s exports, though China’s recovery is starting to moderate.
“Covid cases and vaccine distribution will remain the key focus for investors for now,” said Kerry Craig, global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management. “Without the wide distribution of vaccines, the paths of Covid and the economy are locked together, given the impact on social mobility and economic curtailment. This link will be broken as immunity levels rise into the middle of the year, but until then the economic path will be bumpy over the first quarter.”
Elsewhere, Bitcoin held onto much of its weekend gains after topping $34,000 for the first time on Sunday.
On the coronavirus front, global infections climbed above 85 million, after US daily cases soared to a record of nearly 300,000 after the New Year holiday. The UK is poised to give the first shots of the vaccine from AstraZeneca Plc and the University of Oxford, in a race against a faster-spreading variant that’s prompted new lockdowns across much of the country.
Futures on the S&P 500 Index climbed 0.4% as of 8:27 am London time and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index surged 1.2%.
While the MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 0.8%, the MSCI Emerging Market Index gained 1.1%.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index falls 0.4%, the euro
increased 0.5% to $1.227.
The British pound was little changed at $1.3677 and the onshore yuan strengthened 1% to 6.463 per dollar. The Japanese yen strengthened 0.3% to 102.86 per dollar.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries gained two basis points to 0.93% and the yield on two-year Treasuries was unchanged at 0.12%. While Germany’s 10-year yield sinks three basis points to -0.60%, Britain’s 10-year yield falls three basis points to 0.169%.