NEW YORK – Stocks rose across the globe on Friday to close at a fresh high and remained on track for their strongest monthly performance on record but the Nasdaq outperformed on Wall Street and Treasury yields fell, indicating lingering concerns over rising coronavirus cases globally.
A global stock index touched a record high for the third session this week while the dollar index, a measure of the greenback versus six peers, touched a three-month low and closed at its lowest since April 2018.
On Wall Street, the main indexes rose and the Nasdaq Composite hit a record high. The Nasdaq outperformance mirrors recent sessions when, despite rising stocks, the focus was on the economic impact of the pandemic. The U.S. expects a further surge in coronavirus infections following the Thanksgiving holiday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 37.9 points, or 0.13 percent, to 29,910.37, the S&P 500 . gained 8.7 points, or 0.24 percent, to 3,638.35 and the Nasdaq Composite added 111.44 points, or 0.92 percent, to 12,205.85.
European stocks rose after the European Central Bank reinforced expectations of further stimulus next month and Sweden’s Riksbank made a surprise increase to its quantitative-easing program.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.41 percent and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.39 percent to 623.75 after touching a high of 624.29.
Emerging market stocks rose 0.12 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.40 percent.
Questions also lingered over trial data on AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 “vaccine for the world,” as several scientists sounded caution over the trial results.
