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A gauge of global equity markets edged higher on Tuesday on a rebound in Amazon.com shares and a still bright earnings outlook offset a somber mood among investors, while the U.S. dollar rose on easing concerns over a China-U.S. trade spat.

Oil prices rose after their biggest one-day fall in almost a year on Monday, though higher Russian output and Saudi Arabia possibly cutting selling prices dragged on crude trading.

Investors remained cautious after China said Sunday it would raise tariffs on 128 U.S. products, deepening a dispute between the world’s two biggest economies and stoking jitters about the potential impact of the trade standoff on global growth.

U.S. Treasury yields and benchmark German bunds rose as stocks on Wall Street firmed and as investors looked to Friday’s closely watched U.S. employment report for March.

U.S. debt yields had dropped to two-month lows on Monday, boosted by safe-haven buying amid the rout in technology shares.

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.51 per cent. Earlier in Europe, the pan-regional FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading shares closed down 0.45 per cent.

After being shut for Easter Monday and feeling that impact a day later, Europe’s main bourses in London, Paris and Frankfurt closed lower.

Tech stocks, following a recent U.S. downdraft, remained a pressure point in Europe after U.S. President Donald Trump renewed his criticism of Amazon.

Reports that Apple intended to make more of its own parts slammed European chipmakers such as AMS and STMicroelectronics.

The S&P 500 Information Technology index has tumbled in recent weeks, ending Monday down 9.8 per cent from a March 12 closing record. It rose 1 per cent on Tuesday. Declines in large-cap tech shares were triggered by Trump’s recent allegations, made via Twitter, about Amazon’s business practices.

Still, the fundamental picture of solid global growth and strong corporate earnings hasn’t changed that much, though a White House that was market friendly in 2017 has turned less so in 2018, adding a new twist to markets, said Larry Hatheway, chief economist at GAM Investment Management in Zurich.

“If equities are going to find a solid foundation to recover some of the losses they suffered over the last two months, it’s probably going to be on the basis that companies can still demonstrate earnings and fundamental reasons their earnings story is intact,” Hatheway said, speaking in New York.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 389.17 points, or 1.65 per cent, to 24,033.36, the S&P 500 gained 32.57 points, or 1.26 per cent, to 2,614.45 and the Nasdaq Composite added 71.16 points, or 1.04 per cent, to 6,941.28.

Spotify shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange with an opening price of $165.90 per share, nearly 26 per cent above the reference price of $132 a share set by the NYSE late on Monday.

Spotify later pared gains but was still up 13.6 per cent at $149,94.

Canada’s main stock index fell on Tuesday as declines for financial and gold mining shares offset gains for energy and auto part stocks.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index unofficially closed down 32.69 points, or 0.21 percent, at 15,180.76. Seven of the index’s 10 main groups ended lower.

Gold producers fell 2.3 per cent, weighing on the larger materials sector as prices of yellow metal edged lower after previous session’s surge. Franco-Nevada Corp. lost 3.2 per cent to $86.95, while Barrick Gold Corp. was down 2.2 per cent to $15.97.

Financial stocks fell 0.4 per cent, including a 1-per-cent drop by Toronto-Dominion Bank to $71.89 and a 0.5-per-cent fall by Royal Bank of Canada to $98.20.

The dollar rebounded from an early fall on concerns about U.S.-China trade tensions.

The dollar index, tracking it against a group of major currencies, rose 0.19 per cent, with the euro down 0.26 per cent to $1.2268. The Japanese yen weakened 0.66 per cent versus the greenback at 106.58 per dollar.

Asia’s shares had stumbled overnight, though their moves had been small compared to Wall Street where the S&P 500 closed below its 200-day moving average for the first time since Britain’s 2016 vote to leave the European Union.

The slight recovery in risk appetite meant U.S. Treasuries, German Bunds and UK Gilts all saw a bit of selling too in Europe. Yields on 10-year notes were all off two- to three-month lows.

Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes last fell 15/32 in price to yield 2.7880 per cent.

U.S. crude rose 50 cents to settle at $63.51 a barrel and Brent settled up 48 cents at $68.12.

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Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 28/03/24 4:00pm EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
AAPL-Q
Apple Inc
-1.06%171.48
FNV-T
Franco-Nevada Corp
+1.43%161.4
AMZN-Q
Amazon.com Inc
+0.31%180.38

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