Buoyant corporate earnings lifted investors sentiment again today, sending world stocks to near 13-month highs.
The dollar fell to a fresh 14-month low against a basket of major currencies while low-yielding government bonds sold off.
"(Stock) momentum is great," said Koen De Leus, economist at KBC Securities. "The market at the moment is driven by liquidity. On the earnings side, every one thinks that financials results are going to be better than expected."
The Dow Jones industrial average pierced the 10,000 level yesterdya for the first time in a year bolstered by strong results from JPMorgan Chase & Co and Intel.
Bullish sentiment carried over into most equity markets today. Japan's Nikkei closed up 1.8 per cent and the FTSEurofirst 300 was up around 0.2 per cent to hit a one-year high for the second straight session.
It lifted MSCI's benchmark all-country world index nearly 0.3 per cent to a level last seen in late September 2008, just after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
The index has now risen about 73 per cent since hitting a low on March 9th this year.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch said yesterday their monthly survey of fund managers had shown increasing bullishness but that it had not reached the level yet that risk a sharp counter swing.
"Equities remain in a sweet spot: fears of a double-dip have receded, while worries about inflation and monetary tightening are not imminent enough to prevent an October surge in risk appetite," Michael Hartnett, the bank's chief global equity strategist, said in a note.
The dollar fell broadly, hitting a 14-month low against the euro and Australian dollar and 15-month trough versus the New Zealand and Canada dollars.
The currency currently suffers when risk appetite rises because of differing prospects for interest rates.
"Firmer equity markets and lower risk aversion continue to depress the dollar," said Adam Cole, global head of FX strategy at RBC Capital Markets.
The euro hit a 14-month high of $1.4967, according to Reuters data.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.2 per cent at 75.332 after falling to a 14-month low of 75.211.
Euro zone government bonds extended losses as equities rose.
Ten-year yields were up 3 basis points at 3.270 per cent, their highest since late September, with two-year yields up 2 basis points at 1.367 per cent.
Reuters