Gold hit a fresh record high today as the dollar struggled, while emerging market stocks climbed to their highest level this year.
Spot gold topped $1,058 per ounce to mark a record high for the third session in a row. It has primarily been driven higher by the weakening dollar, which makes the dollar-denominated metal more attractive to investors.
In some currencies -- the high-flying Australian dollar, for example -- gold has actually fallen in price this year.
The dollar was down 0.7 per cent against a basket of major currencies, close to its year lows.
The currency has been hit by a combination of expectations that US interest rates will stay low for some time and a belief that the global economy is on the mend, easing the motivation behind last year's flight to dollar safety.
The euro was up 0.6 per cent at $1.4773 and the dollar lost a third of a percent to 88.32 yen.
The Australian dollar gained 1.4 per cent, still benefiting from this week's rate hike. It has now gained nearly 28 per cent against the US dollar this year.
World stocks were putting in another positive performance this morning, with MSCI's all-country world index up 0.8 per cent on the day. Its emerging market counterpart was up the same amount at a new high for the year.
The two indexes have gained around 27 per cent and 65 per cent, respectively, this year.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 was up 1.1 per cent, boosted in part by commodity related stocks and bullish sentiment over the Alcoa earnings.
Demand for short-dated euro zone debt slipped with the Schatz yield at 1.27 per cent.
Reuters