By Joanne Chiu and Anna Isaac 

International markets advanced, tracking an end-of-week rally in U.S. stocks, and buoyed by a weaker dollar.

European benchmarks climbed Monday. The pan-continental Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.8%, with gains in the region led by Germany's DAX and the U.K.'s FTSE 100.

Government bonds yields across the continent rose, as equities rallied. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury ticked up to 0.635% from 0.633% Friday.

In afternoon trading in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gained about 1%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 increased more than 2%. China's Shanghai Composite rose 1.4% and South Korea's Kospi Composite gained 1.8%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose about 1%.

The rally in mainland stocks takes the Shanghai Composite's year-to-date gains to about 12.5%, making it one of the world's best-performing major indexes in 2020. The gauge has risen for nine of the past 10 sessions.

Growing conviction that China's economy is recovering from the coronavirus has encouraged investment in Chinese stocks from foreign institutions, and from the millions of individual investors that dominate trading in China. State media touted the benefits of a "healthy bull market," before trying to temper over-exuberance by reminding investors to think long-term.

Vincent Wen, an investment manager at KCG Securities Asia, said the recent stock rally in China had been too fast. It's a policy-driven market, he said, in which investors were too focused on official messages and the prospect of easy monetary policy. "Fundamentally speaking, the real economy remains weak and the path to recovery will be bumpy," he said.

The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the U.S. currency against 16 others, fell 0.2% to 90.71.

Singapore's Straits Times Index fell modestly, after the opposition party made significant gains in national elections, though the city-state's ruling party retained power.

E-mini S&P 500 futures rose 0.6%, suggesting U.S. stocks could rise on Monday at the start of trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1.4% Friday, as investors shrugged off a resurgence of coronavirus infections in the U.S. and elsewhere.

This week brings earnings releases from some U.S. banks, as well as key economic data, including U.S. retail sales and Chinese trade and economic-growth data.

Write to Joanne Chiu at joanne.chiu@wsj.com and Anna Isaac at anna.isaac@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 13, 2020 03:39 ET (07:39 GMT)

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