Oil hits highest in a year on growth hopes, OPEC+ cuts

  • Date: 06-Feb-2021
  • Source: Arab News
  • Sector:Oil & Gas
  • Country:Gulf
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Oil hits highest in a year on growth hopes, OPEC+ cuts

LONDON: Global shares approached record highs on Friday while the dollar and oil topped recent milestones, as progress in vaccine distribution and US stimulus hopes prompted bets on further normalization in the global economy.

An index of the world's major 50 markets, MSCI ACWI, rose 0.21 percent to 668.1, coming within reach of a record high of 670.82 touched about two weeks ago. It was the fifth consecutive day of gains.

The STOXX index of Europe's 600 largest stocks was up 0.3 percent at 410.8, though slower vaccination rollouts in continental Europe and disappointing industrial data from Germany tempered optimism.

On the corporate front, Chinese short-video app company Kuaishou “” a major rival to TikTok “” nearly tripled on its market debut following a $5.4-billion initial public offering that was the biggest for an Internet firm since Uber's May 2019 listing.

US President Joe Biden's drive to enact a $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid bill gained momentum on Friday as the US Senate narrowly approved a budget blueprint allowing Democrats to push the legislation through Congress in coming weeks, with or without Republican support.

"Following from a positive US trading session on Thursday supported by decent earnings numbers, it looks as though Democrats will go on