World shares climb as tech rally and rate cut hopes fuel optimism

World shares advanced on Thursday, lifted by a powerful rebound in U.S. technology stocks and growing expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates soon.

The rally was ignited on Wall Street after Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, surged 9.1%. The jump came after a favorable outcome in its antitrust case, which helped steady the market and pull the S&P 500 up 0.5% to break a two-day losing streak.

The positive momentum carried into Asian and European trading:

• Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.5% to 42,580.27.
• Germany’s DAX gained 0.4% to 23,690.74.
• South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.5%.

 

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The optimism was further fueled by a weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs report, which showed 7.2 million job openings in July. This data pushed the 10-year Treasury yield down to 4.22%, bolstering the widespread belief that the Fed will cut rates at its upcoming meeting to support the economy.

A softer dollar, which fell on the prospect of lower rates, also made Asian assets more attractive, giving regional equities an additional boost.

Not all markets shared the gains. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.1% and the Shanghai Composite dropped 1.3% on concerns that Chinese regulators may intervene to cool recent stock gains and control liquidity.

In commodity markets, U.S. benchmark crude oil slipped 35 cents to $63.62 per barrel.