LONDON (Reuters) - Oil hovered near seven-day highs just below $63 a barrel on Thursday, dragging gold and equities higher as traders awaited a signal from OPEC on whether it would cut output to offset swelling U.S. stock levels.
Dearer crude prices bolstered oil shares and helped nudge European shares into positive territory after initial losses.
Gold finally regained $600, touching a two-week peak and could now head up to $620 an ounce, dealers said.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst index of 300 leading shares was up 0.1 percent at 1,398.1 points, after trading just shy of five-year highs in the previous session and dealers said the mood was promising.
"Sentiment appears to be strong, we've broken the back of a few levels; the Dow is within a whisker of a lifetime high," said Will Armitage, senior dealer at IG Index.
Tokyo's Nikkei rose 0.5 percent to close above 16,000 for the first time since September 8, with property and financial stocks also in demand.
The yen was under some pressure after the euro hit one-week highs following hawkish comments from European Central Bank policymakers that cemented expectations for two more euro zone interest rate hikes this year.
The single currency briefly trimmed gains after Japanese Vice Finance Minister Hideto Fujii said recent movements in the euro/yen exchange rate had been "a bit rough".
The euro hit a one-week high of 149.76 yen before slipping slightly to 149.58, up 0.3 percent on the day. It was up 0.1 percent at $1.2711. The dollar was up 0.15 percent at 117.67 yen
.
European Central Bank Governing Council member Axel Weber said in remarks published on Wednesday that the fall in oil prices from recent highs did not give the all-clear on inflation risks in the 12-nation bloc and further rate hikes from the current 3 percent are still needed.
Another member Nicholas Garganas said further interest rate increases are needed if the euro zone economy continues growing at full tilt with inflation above 2 percent.
"Both are singing from the same hymn sheet. It's not sensible for rates to remain on hold purely because of the recent decrease in oil prices," said Adrian Hughes, currency strategist at Societe Generale.
"Central bankers are not worried about inflation today but the future inflation profile. We see softer-than-expected CPI data but as M3 showed there are still loose credit conditions."
Oil has fallen from a July peak of $78.4 to nearly $60 earlier this week on rising U.S. fuel stocks, easing economic growth and diminishing political tensions over Iran's nuclear stand-off. But prices have recovered about $2 as market had become oversold.
"People are getting worried about prices looking too cheap and that OPEC could step in," said Tetsu Emori, chief commodities strategist at Mitsui Bussan Futures in Tokyo.
TREASURIES SIT TIGHT
U.S. Treasury bonds were little changed as dealers prepared to absorb $14 billion of five-year paper and the market awaits key economic data.
Benchmark 10-year yields have bounced from seven-month lows this week, and some analysts are looking for yields to head even higher in the near term as the technical outlook turns negative just as the stock market appears to be on a winning streak.
The Dow Jones industrial average climbed on Wednesday to near its highest level ever, while the S&P 500 hit a 5-1/2-year high -- standing in stark contrast to the bond market's pessimism on the economic outlook.
"The Dow Jones index close to all-time highs is another reminder for the bond market that it may have got a little bit ahead of itself relative to the non-housing fundamentals," said strategists at BNP Paribas in a note to clients.
Ten-year notes were flat to yield 4.064 percent, up from this week's low at 4.53 percent.
The yield on the new two-year notes sold the previous session traded at 4.670 percent, up slightly from the high yield of 4.660 percent in the auction.
U.S. final second quarter growth data is due at 1230 GMT and is expected to be confirmed at an annualised 2.9 percent.
Investors are looking to U.S. data to gauge whether the Federal Reserve's next move will be to cut interest rates. So far releases have been mixed with a stronger-than-forecast consumer confidence reading for September on Tuesday and an unexpected fall in durable goods orders in August on Wednesday.
Friday sees the release of core Personal Consumption Expenditure for August -- the Fed's favoured measure of inflation.
The Fed kept interest rates unchanged at 5.25 percent at its meeting last week for the second month in a row, after ending a two-year rate-tightening campaign in June.
By Cheryl Juckes
منبع : خبرگزاری رویترز
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