HONG KONG - The dollar hit an eight-month low, driving gold to a record high, on rising expectations the Federal Reserve will act again to help the struggling economy while new evidence of China's robust health lifted European stocks.
Europe's major equity markets rose on Wednesday, with the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares up 0.6 percent in early trade, making up for Tuesday's decline, spurred by news of a dip in US consumer confidence.
Gold rose as the Fed and Bank of Japan look to pump more funds into markets via bond purchases and other measures to help their struggling economies.
"The backdrop for the dollar continues to deteriorate," JPMorgan said, advising clients to seize any bounce in the dollar as a chance to sell.
"The increased focus on QE and the break of several key dollar support levels maintained the overall bearish bias."
Japanese government bond futures hit a seven-year high while US Treasury yield curve moved on Tuesday to its flattest since early September over expectations of further monetary easing by both central banks.
Such expectations were reinforced by a fall in US consumer confidence to its lowest since February and a worsening outlook in Bank of Japan's quarterly tankan survey of major companies.
Stock markets, however, found support in a rise in HSBC's China Purchasing Managers' index to a five-month high in September, which pointed to renewed, though moderate, momentum in China's vast industrial sector.
Asian stocks outside Japan rose 0.6 percent, poised for their biggest monthly gain since July 2009, up 11.8 percent, in what is historically one of the worst months for stocks.
Japan's Nikkei closed up 0.7 percent, helped by quarter-end window dressing and expectations that the BOJ will respond to the worsened outlook from Japanese manufacturers by further easing its policy when it meets on Oct. 4-5.
The closely watched tankan survey showed confidence improved for a sixth straight quarter but firms turned negative on the outlook, possibly a sign of growing concerns that a strong yen could derail the fragile economic recovery.
Waiting for the Fed
The dollar index dipped to as low as 78.856, the lowest since early February, hurt by recent speculation that the US Federal Reserve may embark on a second round of quantitative easing later this year.
The weak dollar pushed gold to an all-time high and silver to a 30-year high as ETF holdings hit another record.
Gold rose to $1,310.10 an ounce -- its eighth record-high session this month.
US consumer confidence fell to its lowest level in seven months, the latest in a series in data that give a mixed signal on the economy, with unemployment levels at 26-year highs and access to credit still tight.
The Federal Reserve said last week it was prepared to put more money into the economy, if needed, to stimulate the recovery and avoid deflation.
The Fed is probably preparing a fresh round of quantitative easing measures to announce at the end of its Nov. 2-3 meeting, hedge fund adviser Medley Global Advisors said in a report on Tuesday, a market source told Reuters.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the Fed is also weighing a more open-ended, smaller-scale bond buying program.
