Global shares advance on data boost from U.S., China

[April 29, 2019]  By Ritvik Carvalho

LONDON (Reuters) - Global shares rose on Monday, aided by data showing profits at Chinese industrial firms grew for the first time in four months and a strong reading of U.S. first quarter growth data last week.

The MSCI All-Country World Index of shares, which tracks stocks in 47 countries, was up 0.06 percent after the start of European trading.

Most major European stock markets traded firmer, with the pan-European STOXX 600 index up 0.1 percent. [.EU]

Spain's IBEX 35 index underperformed peers, however, down over half a percent after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez overcame a challenge from right-wing nationalists in elections on Sunday. The elections had little immediate impact on the country's bond market. [GVD/EUR]

Shares in Italian banks got a boost and Italian government bonds rallied after S&P Global affirmed Italy's sovereign credit rating.

Still nagged by uncertainty over the outlook for the global economy, investors were looking to a meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve this week and Chinese factory data for further clues on policy direction in the world's biggest economies.

"For stock traders, it seems that the important catalysts are pointing higher: the U.S. sees strong domestic growth, low inflation keeps the Fed at bay and could potentially trigger a rate cut so it seems that equities have nowhere to go but higher - at least in the short term," said Konstantinos Anthis, head of research at ADSS.

Chinese blue-chips rose over 1 percent after losing 5.6 percent last week, leading Shanghai shares .SSEC to an intraday high in afternoon trade.

Australian shares were down 0.4 percent after hitting an 11-year closing high on Friday, while Seoul's KOSPI was up 1.4 percent.

Japan's financial markets are closed for a long national holiday this week, but Nikkei 225 futures index in Singapore was 0.9 percent higher.

Monday's gains follow data showing U.S. gross domestic product grew at a 3.2 percent annualized rate in the first quarter.

Nomura FX strategist Jordan Rochester noted last week's U.S. GDP was driven by a surge in inventories, government spending, and a big contribution from net trade. "None of those are likely to be sustained, hence why market reaction was limited," he said in a note to clients.

"But overall, the past week has been dominated by higher U.S. equity prices and consequently a U.S. dollar outperformance story. In our view, this week should see a test of that new trend," he said, referencing upcoming economic data this week.

An investor looks at an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in Shanghai, China September 7, 2018. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo/File Photo

In China, fresh data showed industrial profits grew in March after four months of contraction, but analysts said sentiment remained fragile. Economists polled by Reuters expect factory activity in the world's second largest economy to grow at a steady but modest pace in April.

In contrast with weakness in Asian markets last week, Wall Street ended Friday on a high note, propelled by the GDP figures.

The March reading for core personal consumption expenditures (PCE), the Fed's favored inflation measure, is due later on Monday. The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will announce its policy decision on Wednesday, with Chairman Jerome Powell expected to balance the strong domestic growth data against persistent concerns over the global outlook.

Markets will also be looking to global factory activity surveys this week, particularly official and private readings on Chinese manufacturing which will both be released on Tuesday.

With Japan on an extended break, currency markets were calm ahead of the FOMC meeting and U.S. jobs numbers. The dollar was 0.2 percent higher against the yen at 111.74, and the euro was up 0.1 percent at $1.1162.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, slipped 0.03 percent to 97.985.

Oil prices fell, extending a slump from Friday that ended weeks of rallying, after President Donald Trump demanded that producer club OPEC raise output to soften the impact of U.S. sanctions against Iran. [O/R]

Brent crude fell half a percent to $71.80 per barrel.

Spot gold was down 0.3 percent, trading at $1,281.81 per ounce. [GOL/]

(Reporting by Ritvik Carvalho, additional reporting by Andrew Galbraith and Noah Sin in Shanghai and Hong Kong; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

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