Stocks marginally higher as gold, oil declines spook sentiment

Global shares made tentative gains on Monday as sharp falls in gold and oil prices briefly spooked sentiment, while the dollar reached a four-month high versus the euro after an upbeat US jobs report lifted bond yields.

European shares ticked slightly higher after a mixed start in early trading, as a fall in commodity prices weighed on Britain’s blue-chip index, while other regional indexes stayed near recent highs with earnings season winding down.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.06 per cent by 1135 GMT, after having spent most of the morning in negative territory. Britain’s FTSE 100 index dipped 0.3 per cent and Germany’s DAX 30 edged 0.1 per cent lower.

MSCI’s All Country World Index, which tracks shares across 49 countries, was marginally higher, up 0.06 per cent on the day.

Nasdaq futures slipped 0.1 per cent and S&P 500 futures 0.2 per cent.