Stocks climb as China says ‘won’t use yuan as a weapon’

Bloomberg

US stocks rose with European shares on Tuesday after China said it won’t use the yuan as a weapon in any trade dispute. Oil briefly rose above $75 a barrel for the first time since November 2014.
All major US benchmarks were higher, paced by strength in energy, on lighter than normal volume heading into the US. Telecom companies led an advance in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, while Miner Glencore Plc headed for the biggest decline in two years after saying it has been subpoenaed by the US Department of Justice.
The dollar retreated versus most major peers. An earlier pledge by the governor of China’s central bank to keep the yuan at a stable and reasonable level helped it reverse losses. That boosted developing-nation currencies overall, though Turkey’s lira slumped after inflation data. The Swedish krona strengthened as the country’s central bank stuck to its plan to start lifting interest rates.
The global trade spat between the worlds biggest economies appears to be worsening, with President Donald Trump is taking measures to prevent China Mobile Ltd. from entering the US market.
“It certainly looks like there will be no deal before the tariffs take effect, at least the first round of $34 billion,” said John Vail, chief global strategist at Nikko Asset Management.
Elsewhere, West Texas intermediate crude climbed for the fifth time in six sessions as a Saudi Arabian production increase failed to move the needle on global supply. Metals recovered after losses which saw platinum drop to the lowest in nine years.
The US celebrates Independence Day on Wednesday, July 4. Stock and bond markets are closed, along with government offices. Federal Reserve releases minutes of its June 12-13 meeting, when FOMC policy makers raised the benchmark rate a quarter point for the second time this year and lifted the median forecast to four total increases in 2018. US payrolls are due on Friday. Also on Friday, the US is scheduled to impose tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese goods. Beijing has said it will slap tariffs on an equal value on US exports including agricultural and auto exports.
The S&P 500 Index was up 0.2 percent to 2,732.63 in New York. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.9 percent. The MSCI All-Country World Index advanced 0.4 percent. The MSCI Emerging Market Index declined 0.2 percent.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dipped 0.5 percent. The euro gained 0.2 percent to $1.1657. The British pound climbed 0.4 percent to $1.3195. The offshore yuan gained 0.2 percent to 6.6505 per dollar, the biggest climb in almost three weeks.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries climbed one basis point to 2.8583 percent. Germany’s 10-year yield advanced less than one basis point to 0.31 percent, the largest gain in a week. Britain’s 10-year yield climbed one basis point to 1.275 percent.
The Bloomberg Commodity Index increased 0.6 percent. West Texas Intermediate crude increased 1.6 percent to $75.15 a barrel, the highest since November 2014. Gold jumped 0.8 percent to $1,251.73 an ounce.