European bourses end on an upbeat note, Spain in front, dollar firm

Europe’s main equity benchmarks finished the day higher across the board, just as traders in London and elsewhere on the continent were calling it a day. Spain’s Ibex outpaced the rest, climbing 1.33%, with the UK’s FTSE 100 close behind, up nearly 1%.

The final readings were:

• Germany’s DAX rose 190.41 points, or 0.76%, to 25,277.69.

• France’s CAC 40 advanced 29.55 points, or 0.38%, to 7,832.89.

• The UK’s FTSE 100 gained 104.24 points, or 0.99%, to 10,656.28.

• Spain’s Ibex 35 added 252.69 points, or 1.33%, to 19,285.79.

• Italy’s FTSE MIB was up 288.69 points, or 0.58%, to 50,034.99.

Equities climbed even as 10-year yields in Europe also moved upward.

Ten-year benchmark yields were on the rise too, and France posted the biggest jump:

• German yields stood at 3.476%, a rise of 1.1 basis points.

• France’s yield was 4.896%, 5.0 basis points higher.

• The UK’s yield came in at 5.444%, up 0.5 basis points.

• Spain’s 10-year yield reached 4.102%, 0.1 basis points higher.

• Italy’s yield was 4.607%, having risen 3.0 basis points.

The premium of France’s 10-year yield over Germany’s stands at 142 basis points. Because French yields moved up more quickly on the day, the gap widened by 3.9 basis points.

Across the Atlantic, equities were mixed, with technology names underperforming.

US Treasury trading was shut for Columbus Day, though equity markets remained open. The Dow was in positive territory, but the wider US benchmarks were under pressure. The Nasdaq 100 fell the most:

• The Dow Industrial Average gained 209.02 points, or 0.40%, to 51,869.20.

• The S&P 500 slipped 1.04 points, or 0.01%, to 7,810.50.

• The Nasdaq Composite was down 73.02 points, or 0.27%, at 27,293.15.

• The Russell 2000 dropped 5.25 points, or 0.19%, to 2,801.73.

• The Nasdaq 100 retreated 170.45 points, or 0.55%, closing at 30,712.70.

The dollar was in a stronger position.

Bonds were not a catalyst, but the USD traded higher versus every major currency in the end-of-day European snapshot, with the biggest gains coming against the Swiss franc and New Zealand dollar.

• EURUSD was at 1.1155, down 0.41%.

• GBPUSD fetched 1.3202, a 0.22% decline.

• USDJPY traded at 158.68, up 0.23%.

• USDCHF stood at 0.8345, having risen 0.53%.

• USDCAD climbed 0.20% to 1.4283.

• AUDUSD slipped 0.39% to 0.6955.

• NZDUSD was 0.5583, down 0.46%.

Oil advanced, while gold, silver and bitcoin pulled back.

Crude prices were firmer, with the December WTI contract gaining $1.79, or 1.95%, to reach $93.64.

The firmer dollar, meanwhile, weighed on precious metals priced in the US currency:

• Spot gold fell $31.29, or 0.75%, to $4,163.36.

• Silver lost $0.43, or 0.70%, ending at $60.35.

• Copper rose 0.87% to $6.7505.

• Bitcoin gave back $895, or 1.07%, trading at $82,784.

Buyers of European equities enjoyed a strong start to the week. Stateside, the advance was narrower, with the Dow pushing higher while tech shares trailed.