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By Herbert Lash
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global stock markets jumped on the first day of trading in 2020 as a shot of Chinese stimulus and economic data drove a gauge of world equity performance to the latest in a series of record highs, while the dollar snapped a four-day losing streak.
Wall Street's three major indexes closed at records highs on Thursday, with the benchmark S&P 500 setting its 11th high in 14 sessions.
Gold hit a three-month peak while yields on U.S. Treasuries and Germany's 10-year bond tumbled on optimism about the world economy after positive Chinese manufacturing data and the move to increase liquidity dulled fixed income's safe-haven status.
News that China's central bank was freeing another 800 billion yuan ($115 billion) to prop up a slowing economy added to an improving outlook for economic growth, which has been fueled by easing U.S.-Sino trade tensions.
China's factory activity expanded at a slower clip in December, pulling back from a three-year high the previous month as new orders softened. But production continued to grow at a solid pace and business confidence shot up.
The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index for December eased to 51.5 from 51.8 in November, yet remained above the 50-mark that separates expansion from contraction for the fifth straight month.
In another piece of positive data, the number of Americans filing claims for jobless benefits edged lower last week, helping to offset recent signs in the U.S. labor market that new claims may be trending slightly higher.
"It still feels like this continuation of the surge that happened toward year-end in 2019," said Ken Polcari, senior market strategist at SlateStone Wealth LLC in Jupiter, Florida.
"You did have some good Chinese data that came out overnight, a positive manufacturing PMI, which is very expansionary and helping fuel the rally."
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 4.51 points, or 0.8%, to an all-time high, while the pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.93%.
The double dose of Chinese news helped Europe's main markets in London, Frankfurt and Paris jump 0.82% to 1.06%, outpacing overnight gains in Asia and setting them on course for their best opening day of a year since 2013.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 330.36 points, or 1.16%, to 28,868.8. The S&P 500 gained 27.07 points, or 0.84%, to 3,257.85 and the Nasdaq Composite added 119.59 points, or 1.33%, to 9,092.19.
Emerging market stocks rose 1.20%, as the Bovespa index in Brazil advanced 2.5% to an all-time high and Mexico's bolsa index rose 2.1%.