Across the globe, stocks were hitting record highs on Thursday on the strength of a smooth start to the Federal Reserve’s bond tapering program. European stocks were steady at some of their highest levels even as the British Pound fell nearly a percent after the Bank of England chose not to stop pandemic era monetary policies, refusing to increase interest rates. The STOXX 60–a pan-European index—rose half a percent on Thursday while the MSCI world index jumped to a third straight record higher. Effectively, the overall value of worldwide stocks is double what it was in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Oil is still rising as OPEC nations convened their most recent meeting, noting a drop in volatility of the market. NASDAQ futures rose two-tenths of a percent to another record high, and if it is sustained, would be the 9th straight day of gains in that market. The dollar rose almost half a percent to 94.285, and the Yen landed at 11.05 per dollar. The Federal Reserve, for its part, has not yet announced when it will increase interest rates even though it has started tapering bond purchases. However, futures show that there would be a quarter of a percent increase in June 2022 and another half a percent increase at the end of 2022.
