Global stocks higher as oil prices bounce back

  20 April 2016    Read: 769
Global stocks higher as oil prices bounce back
Stocks around the world rose Tuesday as rebounding oil prices helped extend the recent rally.
Futures pointed to a 0.3% opening gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, after it closed above 18,000 for the first time since July. Changes in futures don’t necessarily reflect market moves after the opening bell.

The Stoxx Europe 600 was up 1.4% late morning, following an upbeat session in Asia.

Rising commodities prices boosted shares of mining and energy companies in Europe and helped send shares in Australia to a three-month high.

Oil prices had opened sharply lower on Monday but later staged a rebound, lifting stocks alongside it.

Brent crude oil was last up 1.4% at $43.43 a barrel, not far from where it was before talks about a production freeze collapsed over the weekend. Analysts said oil prices were boosted on Tuesday from a strike by oil workers in Kuwait, alleviating supply pressure.

“Yesterday’s session was yet further confirmation that oil is one of the key factors that sets the tone for global financial markets,” said Piotr Matys, strategist at Rabobank.

Investors also continued to focus on corporate earnings. On Tuesday, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said its quarterly earnings tumbled 60%, sending shares slightly lower in premarket trading.

Late Monday, International Business Machines Corp. reported a 4.6% slide in first-quarter revenue and a 13.5% plunge in profit. Shares also fell in after-hours trading.

“The next 3-6 months will be driven by expectations of an earnings recovery,” said Luca Paolini, chief strategist at Pictet Asset Management.

Shares in Japan also reversed Monday’s steep drops after the yen stabilized against the U.S. dollar and concerns about the financial impact of recent earthquakes in Japan eased. Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average ended 3.7% higher.

The dollar has declined by nearly 10% against the yen this year, weighing on Japanese exporters and causing Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda to hint at the possibility of further stimulus measures in a recent Wall Street Journal interview. The dollar was last up 0.4% against the yen at ¥109.4020.

The world’s biggest crude exporters failed Sunday to reach an agreement on freezing oil output at January’s levels. Heard on the Street`s Helen Thomas looks at what could happen next in oil markets.

The euro was up 0.3% against the dollar at $1.1343 after data showed sentiment among German financial analysts picked up further in April. A European Central Bank survey also showed recent easing measures are having a positive impact on bank lending in the eurozone, supporting shares in the region.

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