Stocks rose around the world and bond yields edged up on Tuesday, as oil rebounded from 11-year lows on prospects for lower temperatures on both sides of the Atlantic.
The fall in oil prices has been a major driver of financial markets this year, hammering energy companies, lowering inflation expectations and reinforcing bets on loose monetary policy in Europe and a slow tightening in the United States. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were up 94 cents to $37.75 a barrel, rebounding from about three per cent fall on Monday. Brent, the international benchmark , was at $37.66 a barrel, up $1.02 but only a bit less than $2 away from an 11-year low hit earlier in December. This lifted shares on the Wall Street and in Europe. The S&P 500 Index gained 0.88 per cent to nearly 2074, led by a bounce in energy names, while the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 Index rose 1.2 per cent and the euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index advanced 1.4 per cent.
"Brent crude is slightly higher, and if it can drag itself across the $37 per barrel mark it is struggling with, then European stock markets may be able to hold on to some gains," said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.
The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield rose 4.5 basis points to 2.27 percent, while German 10-year Bund yields , the benchmark for euro zone borrowing costs, rose 2 basis points to 0.58 percent.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.2 percent. But it remained on track to mark a loss of around 12 percent for 2015, a year that saw it log a more than seven-year high in April.
China's blue-chip CSI300 index added 0.9 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index closed up by a similar amount, as the central bank vowed to maintain reasonable credit growth and keep the yuan stable.
China's yuan fell to 6.5805 against the dollar in offshore trading, its weakest since a hefty devaluation in August, mirroring a fall in onshore rates, with traders citing strong year-end dollar demand. It later firmed a bit to 6.5750.
The euro dipped 0.5 percent to $1.0906.
The fall in oil prices has been a major driver of financial markets this year, hammering energy companies, lowering inflation expectations and reinforcing bets on loose monetary policy in Europe and a slow tightening in the United States. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were up 94 cents to $37.75 a barrel, rebounding from about three per cent fall on Monday. Brent, the international benchmark , was at $37.66 a barrel, up $1.02 but only a bit less than $2 away from an 11-year low hit earlier in December. This lifted shares on the Wall Street and in Europe. The S&P 500 Index gained 0.88 per cent to nearly 2074, led by a bounce in energy names, while the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 Index rose 1.2 per cent and the euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index advanced 1.4 per cent.
"Brent crude is slightly higher, and if it can drag itself across the $37 per barrel mark it is struggling with, then European stock markets may be able to hold on to some gains," said Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.
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Britain's blue-chip FTSE 100 index, opening for the first time since the Christmas break, rose 0.6 percent.
The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield rose 4.5 basis points to 2.27 percent, while German 10-year Bund yields , the benchmark for euro zone borrowing costs, rose 2 basis points to 0.58 percent.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.2 percent. But it remained on track to mark a loss of around 12 percent for 2015, a year that saw it log a more than seven-year high in April.
China's blue-chip CSI300 index added 0.9 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index closed up by a similar amount, as the central bank vowed to maintain reasonable credit growth and keep the yuan stable.
China's yuan fell to 6.5805 against the dollar in offshore trading, its weakest since a hefty devaluation in August, mirroring a fall in onshore rates, with traders citing strong year-end dollar demand. It later firmed a bit to 6.5750.
The euro dipped 0.5 percent to $1.0906.