World stocks reach two-week highs as oil slips below $100 and bond yields ease

World stocks rose to two-week highs on Tuesday, 6 October, as lower oil prices and a pause in the bond-market selloff steadied sentiment, Reuters reported. MSCI’s global equity gauge was up 0.2% and the pan-European STOXX 600 gained 0.6%.

Wall Street and Asia

US stock futures pointed to a record-high open for the S&P 500, for the first time since mid-August, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which closed at a record on Monday on gains in Nvidia and Microsoft, was on track for a third consecutive all-time high. Investors are looking ahead to a third-quarter earnings season that is expected to be powered by AI-driven growth and that opens with reports from large US banks. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.1%, while South Korean shares fell nearly 1% after reopening from a holiday.

Oil and bonds

Brent crude fell 2% to $97.96 a barrel after a 1.9% drop overnight, as resilient Middle East crude exports and the G7 emergency stockpile release eased supply worries, although security risks in the region limited the losses. The 10-year US Treasury yield fell 3 basis points to 5.2815% and the 30-year yield to 5.6356%, after the 30-year touched 5.702% on Monday, its highest since 2002. France’s 10-year yield dropped 15.3 basis points to 4.708%, and the euro rose 0.2% to $1.1239 after hitting a 17-month low in the previous session.