World markets rally to 1-year peak

LONDON (Reuters) -- World stocks hit a 12-month high on Wednesday as forecast-beating Intel Corp results and Chinese trade data brightened the economic outlook, while the dollar plumbed 14-month lows, sending oil and gold higher.

MSCI's all-country world index rose 0.7% to 294.41, a level last seen in early October a year ago. The index was up 29% this year, with a more than 71% gain since hitting a six-year low in March.

European shares rose 1.2% led by banks, technology and energy sectors, while U.S. stock futures were gained some 1% after stellar results from Intel (INTC, Fortune 500), the world's largest chip-maker, after the bell in Wall Street on Tuesday.

U.S. corporate earnings continue to be the dominant driver of risk sentiment.

"Whilst we have rallied strongly since the March lows, the release of Q3 earnings from some of the world's largest financial institutions over the next 48 hours could well dictate confidence, and indeed direction, for the rest of 2009," said John Murphy, analyst at ODL Securities.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) releases results later in the day. Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) and Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) are slated for Thursday.

Data showed the pace of Chinese exports and imports slowed in September, boding well for China's recovery. Chinese copper imports in particular were a surprise, jumping 23% against an expected fall, pushing London copper futures up 2%.

MSCI's emerging market equities index also rose, reaching its highest since late August 2008 above 965 and gaining 1.5% on the day.

But Thailand's benchmark stock index slipped more than 3%.

Gold hit a record above $1,070 an ounce and oil rose to a 2009 peak above $75 a barrel as the dollar slipped to its weakest in more than a year.

The weaker dollar boosted gold's appeal as an alternative investment and making commodities cheaper for non-dollar buyers.

The dollar hit 14-month lows against the euro of $1.4906, according to electronic trading platform EBS.

"The upward pressure in commodity prices, especially oil climbing to the $74-$75 level, combined with decent expectations for Q3 earnings have contributed to upward pressure in euro/dollar," said Kasper Kirkegaard, currency strategist at Danske Markets in Copenhagen.

Growth and commodity linked currencies such as the Australian and Canadian dollars also rose against the U.S. unit.

Risk assets were also fueled on expectations that interest rates in major economies would stay at rock-bottom levels for some time, providing cheap funding for investors.

U.S. Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Donald Kohn said on Tuesday the economy would likely be producing "well below" its potential for some time and that expectations of future inflation would more likely fall than rise.

"I expect that, for a while, the risk of further declines in underlying rates of inflation will be greater than the risk of increases," he told the National Association of Business Economics.

The Bank of Japan left key interest rates unchanged at 0.1% on Wednesday as expected, and BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said the board decided it was best to review the central bank's corporate lending measures at its next meeting or later.

The yen got a boost against the dollar after a deputy of Japanese Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said Japan should not step into the foreign exchange market just because the yen rises.

"The current yen rise is due to the dollar weakness rather than the yen's strength," Naoki Minezaki, one of the government's two senior vice finance ministers, told Reuters in an interview. "The dollar weakness is likely to persist."