By NEW YORK (Reuters) - World stock markets hit their highest levels since March and oil prices jumped on Tuesday as signs of a global economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic offset concerns over the worst civil unrest in the United States in decades.Slideshow Despite those gains, investors were hesitant to move away from the perceived safety of U.S. government bonds, which edged lower but remained near record highs.“In a way, it is remarkable that the market remains in this positive mood,” said Elwin de Groot, head of macro strategy at Rabobank. “Even with these rising protests in...…By NEW YORK (Reuters) - World stock markets hit their highest levels since March and oil prices jumped on Tuesday as signs of a global economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic offset concerns over the worst civil unrest in the United States in decades.Slideshow Despite those gains, investors were hesitant to move away from the perceived safety of U.S. government bonds, which edged lower but remained near record highs.“In a way, it is remarkable that the market remains in this positive mood,” said Elwin de Groot, head of macro strategy at Rabobank. “Even with these rising protests in...WW…

By , NEW YORK (Reuters) - The euro jumped to a 12-week high against the dollar on Thursday after another shot of European Central Bank stimulus to help economies slammed by the coronavirus pandemic, but world equity markets pulled in the reins after a strong seven-day run.The euro rallied for an eighth straight session after the ECB said it would increase the size of emergency bond purchases by 600 billion euros ($674 billion) to 1.35 trillion euros, more than the 500 billion-euro increase analysts had expected.A huge domestic support package from Germany also lifted the euro and briefly...…By , NEW YORK (Reuters) - The euro jumped to a 12-week high against the dollar on Thursday after another shot of European Central Bank stimulus to help economies slammed by the coronavirus pandemic, but world equity markets pulled in the reins after a strong seven-day run.The euro rallied for an eighth straight session after the ECB said it would increase the size of emergency bond purchases by 600 billion euros ($674 billion) to 1.35 trillion euros, more than the 500 billion-euro increase analysts had expected.A huge domestic support package from Germany also lifted the euro and briefly...WW…

By NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock markets rose and safe havens such as U.S. Treasury bonds dipped Tuesday as strong factory data and signs that coronavirus vaccinations could be administered by the end of the year helped prolong a worldwide rally in risk assets even as the pandemic accelerated.Bets on more easing from the U.S. Federal Reserve to help the economy through the winter pushed the dollar index down 0.817% to 2-1/2-year lows as riskier currencies rose.Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes, meanwhile, fell 24/32 in price to yield 0.9194%, from 0.842% late on Monday, as Congress began a...…By NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock markets rose and safe havens such as U.S. Treasury bonds dipped Tuesday as strong factory data and signs that coronavirus vaccinations could be administered by the end of the year helped prolong a worldwide rally in risk assets even as the pandemic accelerated.Bets on more easing from the U.S. Federal Reserve to help the economy through the winter pushed the dollar index down 0.817% to 2-1/2-year lows as riskier currencies rose.Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes, meanwhile, fell 24/32 in price to yield 0.9194%, from 0.842% late on Monday, as Congress began a...WW…

By NEW YORK (Reuters) - The rollercoster ride in bitcoin since the start of the year has not dampened wealth manager Jim Paulsen’s enthusiasm for the cryptocurrency.Yet Paulsen, chief investment officer for Leuthold Group, which manages $1 billion, cannot own bitcoin in client portfolios due to regulatory constraints. This has left him on the sidelines watching the world’s most popular cyrptocurrency surge more than 900% since its March lows in volatile trading that also saw bitcoin lose more than 20% in the span of a few days.“What I like about bitcoin is... its correlation to stocks and...…By NEW YORK (Reuters) - The rollercoster ride in bitcoin since the start of the year has not dampened wealth manager Jim Paulsen’s enthusiasm for the cryptocurrency.Yet Paulsen, chief investment officer for Leuthold Group, which manages $1 billion, cannot own bitcoin in client portfolios due to regulatory constraints. This has left him on the sidelines watching the world’s most popular cyrptocurrency surge more than 900% since its March lows in volatile trading that also saw bitcoin lose more than 20% in the span of a few days.“What I like about bitcoin is... its correlation to stocks and...WW…

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comFeb 25 (Reuters) - GameStop Corp shares rallied on Thursday, finishing with double-digit gains despite a sharp retreat from session highs and leading a surprise resurgence of so-called “stonks” championed online by passionate retail investors.GameStop shares, which doubled their value on Wednesday, hit $160 at Thursday's open before being halted after several minutes of trading and fell to around $129 before the second halt. The stock closed for the day at $108.73 for an 18.5% gain, after soaring almost 90% at the session peak.Other...…Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comFeb 25 (Reuters) - GameStop Corp shares rallied on Thursday, finishing with double-digit gains despite a sharp retreat from session highs and leading a surprise resurgence of so-called “stonks” championed online by passionate retail investors.GameStop shares, which doubled their value on Wednesday, hit $160 at Thursday's open before being halted after several minutes of trading and fell to around $129 before the second halt. The stock closed for the day at $108.73 for an 18.5% gain, after soaring almost 90% at the session peak.Other...WW…

By , LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The largest outflow on record for Cathie Wood’s ARK fund was not enough to stop the firm from increasing its bet on Tesla Inc after the electric carmaker’s stock closed below $700 for the first time this year on Tuesday.Slideshow Wood, whose $26.6 billion ARK Innovation exchange-traded fund (ETF) was the top-performing actively managed U.S. equity fund tracked by Morningstar last year, bought $171 million of Tesla shares, pushing its weight to about 10% of the fund.Shares of the carmaker jumped 4.7% in afternoon trading on Wednesday, helping erase some of...…By , LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The largest outflow on record for Cathie Wood’s ARK fund was not enough to stop the firm from increasing its bet on Tesla Inc after the electric carmaker’s stock closed below $700 for the first time this year on Tuesday.Slideshow Wood, whose $26.6 billion ARK Innovation exchange-traded fund (ETF) was the top-performing actively managed U.S. equity fund tracked by Morningstar last year, bought $171 million of Tesla shares, pushing its weight to about 10% of the fund.Shares of the carmaker jumped 4.7% in afternoon trading on Wednesday, helping erase some of...WW…

By , TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada’s main securities regulator has cleared the launch of the world’s first bitcoin exchange traded fund, an investment manager said on Friday, providing investors greater access to the cryptocurrency that has sparked an explosion in trading interest.Slideshow The Ontario Securities Commission has approved the launch of Purpose Bitcoin ETF, Toronto-based asset management company Purpose Investments Inc. said in a statement. The OSC confirmed the approval in a separate statement to Reuters.“The ETF will be the first in the world to invest directly in physically...…By , TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada’s main securities regulator has cleared the launch of the world’s first bitcoin exchange traded fund, an investment manager said on Friday, providing investors greater access to the cryptocurrency that has sparked an explosion in trading interest.Slideshow The Ontario Securities Commission has approved the launch of Purpose Bitcoin ETF, Toronto-based asset management company Purpose Investments Inc. said in a statement. The OSC confirmed the approval in a separate statement to Reuters.“The ETF will be the first in the world to invest directly in physically...WW…

By NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. election has given a lift to high-flying technology stocks, which are within striking distance of a new record, but while investors say they remain attractive long-term, the still-undecided Senate could cause volatility in trading around the year-end.Since Election Day, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is up 6.6%, easily outpacing the 4.2% gain in the broad S&P 500 over the same time. This was partly driven by investors and traders unwinding trades placed on pre-election assumptions of a Democratic sweep which they thought would usher in higher taxes and...…By NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. election has given a lift to high-flying technology stocks, which are within striking distance of a new record, but while investors say they remain attractive long-term, the still-undecided Senate could cause volatility in trading around the year-end.Since Election Day, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite is up 6.6%, easily outpacing the 4.2% gain in the broad S&P 500 over the same time. This was partly driven by investors and traders unwinding trades placed on pre-election assumptions of a Democratic sweep which they thought would usher in higher taxes and...WW…

By NEW YORK (Reuters) - Corporate America is downsizing its real estate footprint as companies allow more employees to work from home, a growing threat to the bottom line of owners of traditional office buildings and a sign that companies are looking for ways to cut costs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.Slideshow A Reuters analysis of quarterly earnings calls over the past week revealed more than 25 large companies plan to reduce their office space in the year ahead, a move designed to reduce the second-largest expense after payrolls at corporations.Energy company Halliburton Co...…By NEW YORK (Reuters) - Corporate America is downsizing its real estate footprint as companies allow more employees to work from home, a growing threat to the bottom line of owners of traditional office buildings and a sign that companies are looking for ways to cut costs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.Slideshow A Reuters analysis of quarterly earnings calls over the past week revealed more than 25 large companies plan to reduce their office space in the year ahead, a move designed to reduce the second-largest expense after payrolls at corporations.Energy company Halliburton Co...WW…