Equities surge on Fed cues; oil resumes decline
By Michael Connor
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global equities markets rallied on Thursday, with Wall Street surging nearly 2.5 percent, as investors buoyed by policy comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve moved into riskier holdings.
The Swiss franc tumbled after the country's central bank announced a surprise charge on deposits, wary of a flood of money exiting Russia and likely inflows from the euro zone if the European Central Bank starts full-scale money printing early next year.
Wall Street powered higher, with the S&P 500 putting up its best two days of gains since November 2011, according to Reuters data. Health and technology shares were among the strongest U.S. sectors.(.SPLRCT) (.SPXHC)
"What happened this week was a game-changer. That easy money trade came to the forefront, and it's so powerful it wipes out all of these concerns that exist," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of Sarhan Capital in New York.
The dollar rose against major currencies, and world oil prices resumed a months-long decline after Wednesday's rally, as asset manager Pimco said cheap oil should help global economic growth next year.
U.S. government debt, a traditional safe-haven for anxious investors, dropped for a second day after the Fed's upbeat assessment of the U.S. economy.
The Fed's promise on Wednesday to take a "patient" approach to raising interest rates, while adding clarity on when it might raise rates, also helped boost European and Japanese shares.
Wall Street primary dealers, on average, expect the first rate hike to come in June 2015, according to a Reuters poll.
The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) climbed 2.43 percent to 17,778.15 and the S&P 500 (.SPX) finished up 2.4 percent at 2,061.23 for its biggest one-day percentage rise since January 2013. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) was up 104.08 points, or 2.24 percent, at 4,748.40.
The MSCI world equity index , which tracks shares in 45 nations, rose 2 percent.
European shares surged with a rise in Greek equities after the leader of the country's main opposition party said he was committed to keeping Greece in the euro zone should his leftist party take power next year.
The FTSEurofirst 300 (.FTEU3) index of top European shares closed up 3 percent at 1,356.23, its biggest percentage rise since November 2011.
Oil fell, with Brent crude (LCOc1) closing below the psychologically significant $60 a barrel after peaking at $63.70. West Texas Intermediate crude (CLc1) dropped 3 percent, or $1.65, to $54.82 a barrel, after earlier gains drove it up to $58.73.
Pressure on major oil-producer Russia's rouble remained as President Vladimir Putin tried to cool worries of a financial crisis taking hold. At a news conference, Putin sought to calm worries that the near-45 percent plunge in the rouble since June has left Russia on the brink of a full-blown crisis.
The rouble was roughly 2.5 percent weaker on the day (RUB=), though Moscow's dollar-traded stock market (.IRTS) jumped 6.5 percent.
U.S. Treasury yields rose, with the benchmark 10-year note down 17/32 in price to yield 2.21 percent. It reached a one-week high of 2.22 percent earlier on Thursday.
The Swiss National Bank's move to introduce a charge on deposits was accompanied by a cut in its main rate band. The franc fell to its lowest level since mid-October against the euro and to a two-year low against the dollar (CHF=).
The greenback was last at 0.9806 Swiss franc, and the dollar index (.DXY) was up 0.1 percent.
(Additional reporting by Richard Leong, Chuck Mikolajczak, Sam Forgione, and Barani Krishnan in New York; Editing by Dan Grebler and Leslie Adler)
