Shares in Europe and Asia rose on Tuesday and the dollar strengthened after China said its economy had not slowed as much as many in markets had feared.
However, the International Monetary Fund cut its forecast for global growth in 2015 by three-tenths of a per cent to 3.5 per cent and called on governments and central banks to pursue accommodative monetary policies and reforms.
Oil prices fell further, hit by the prospects of weaker demand in China, the world’s second largest economy. But lower oil and rising hopes for more stimulus from the European Central Bank later this week helped lift stocks around the world.
China grew 7.4 per cent in 2014, just missing official forecasts of 7.5 per cent, and its slowest growth in 24 years. But fourth-quarter expansion held steady at 7.3 per cent, down on the previous three months but marginally better than expected.
“Growth in the last quarter of 2014 shows some nice resilience, 7.3 per cent vs expectations of 7.2 per cent, which shows that our scenario of a soft landing is quite close to reality,’’ said John Plassard, senior equity sales trader at Mirabaud Securities in Geneva.
A slew of Chinese data, which also showed factory output and retail sales beating forecasts in December, lifted Asian shares.
Asian, European markets
The Shanghai Composite index rose 1.85 per cent and the CSI300 closed up 1.22 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index saw its biggest one-day gain in a month, ending up 2.1 per cent. MSCI’s main index for Asian shares, excluding Japan, was up 0.3 per cent.
European shares opened higher, also boosted by expectations the ECB will launch as soon as Thursday a programme of money-printing through purchases of government bonds in a bid to fight off deflation and kick-start growth.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.6 per cent at a fresh seven-year high.
Dollar vs yen
The dollar rose against the safe-haven yen and was last up 0.6 per cent at 118.19 yen, and the euro was down a fifth of a per cent at $1.1580. In anticipation of looser ECB policy, the euro hit an 11-year low of $1.1459 on Friday.
Ahead of the ECB meeting, yields on euro zone government bonds have touched a series of record lows. Most yields held near those lows on Tuesday, with the market awaiting a sale of 10-year Spanish debt via syndication.
“Investors are being pushed further out on the core but also peripheral yield curves as they seek a return in a world where returns are difficult to come by,’’ said Richard McGuire, head of rates strategy at Rabobank.
In emerging markets, shares measured by MSCI rose 0.3 per cent. The focus was on a central bank policy meeting in Turkey, which was expected to deliver a cut in interest rates amid slowing inflation.
Crude oil, gold
Brent crude oil slipped again and was last down 0.6 per cent at $48.53 a barrel. The benchmark price has lost some 60 per cent since June.
Concerns about global economic growth kept gold near a four-month high. Spot gold was last at $1,279.10 an ounce, close to Friday’s peak of $1,281.50, which was its highest since September.