Global stocks kick off 2021 with a vaccine-driven rally, while Bitcoin trades above $30,000 and gold gets a boost from the dollar

Global stocks kick off 2021 with a vaccine-driven rally, while Bitcoin trades above $30,000 and gold gets a boost from the dollar

A pedestrian wearing a face mask walks past a stock indicator displaying share prices of the Tokyo Stock Exchange

Behrouz Mehri/Getty Images

Global shares rose, buoyed by investor hopes that a successful COVID-19 vaccine rollout would cement economic recovery this year.

The dollar fell to its lowest in almost three years against other major currencies, including the Chinese yuan, which sent gold to two-month highs and propped up oil, while Bitcoin traded around $30,000.

"The year has started very much the same as the previous year ended: risk up and the dollar down," Axi chief market strategist Stephen Innes said.

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Global stocks rose on Monday, kicking off the new year with a dose of optimism over the economic recovery that many investors hope a COVID-19 vaccine will bring, while Bitcoin traded near record highs above $30,000 and gold and oil rallied.

A flurry of upbeat manufacturing activity reports from China, Japan and India pointed to ongoing recovery in some of the world's largest economies, which helped underpin positive sentiment. 

Giving an extra shot in the arm to risk assets was the ongoing decline in the US dollar, which investors sold in favor of stocks, commodities, cryptocurrencies and emerging-market currencies.

"The year