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Wall Street ekes out advances while European equities notch up 10 consecutive sessions of record closing highs The S&P 500 index of blue-chip US stocks close at another high © AP Share on twitter (opens new window) Share on facebook (opens new window) Share on linkedin (opens new window) Share Save Adrienne Klasa in London and Shubham Saharan in New York AUGUST 14 2021 32 Print this page Be the first to know about every new Coronavirus story Get instant email alerts US Treasury yields tumbled after the release of a survey showing a gloomier outlook from American consumers on issues including personal finances, the economic recovery and inflation. The University of Michigan index of consumer confidence fell 13.5 per cent in the month to mid-August, dipping below the lows reached in April 2020 during the early days of the pandemic. The only other fall of this magnitude occurred during the depths of the global financial crisis in April 2008. “Consumers have correctly reasoned that the economy’s performance will be diminished over the next several months” by the spread of the Delta variant, “but the extraordinary surge in negative economic assessments also reflects an emotional response, mainly from dashed hopes that the pandemic would soon end,” the report noted. ​The yield on the benchmark 10-year US government note fell 0.07 percentage points to 1.29 per cent, but still ended the week higher than where it started on Monday. Yields move inversely to price. Gold gained 1.5 per cent to $1,779 per troy ounce, while the dollar traded 0.6 per cent lower against a basket of currencies. Wall Street stocks reached new highs while European shares have now had their longest run of record closing highs in at least three decades, as strong earnings outweighed worries about the spread of the Delta variant. The S&P 500 index of blue-chip US stocks rose 0.2 per cent to a further high on Friday, after entertainment group Disney released earnings that beat expectations. The company’s shares gained 1 per cent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite traded flat. “Equities still have room to run in the near term, but [US] valuations are stretched to say the least,” said Andrew Patterson, senior economist at Vanguard. “To think that those levels will persist indefinitely is a tough pill to swallow,” he added, pointing to international markets and value stocks as having more room to grow. The breakneck pace of consumer price growth in the US moderated in July, according to data released on Wednesday, hinting that at least some of the recent bout of inflation may prove temporary. But investors will be looking ahead to the Jackson Hole summit of global central bankers at the end of the month. They hope to get a clearer view on how US Federal Reserve officials will interpret these inflation numbers and recent strong jobs reports to decide when to roll back their $120bn in monthly asset purchases. In Europe, the regional Stoxx 600 index inched up 0.2 per cent — the 10th consecutive session that it has eked out a record. The UK’s FTSE 100 gained 0.4 per cent following solid second-quarter growth figures released on Thursday. Earnings in Europe have been strong, boosting shares, coming in 11 per cent higher than expected so far this quarter, according to figures from Goldman Sachs. Asian markets were weaker, dented by the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19 and Beijing’s efforts to rein in key sectors of the economy, including its powerful technology companies. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 0.5 per cent, with Chinese tech groups Tencent and Alibaba among the laggards, as did the CSI 300 index of companies listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen. China has adopted a “zero-tolerance” approach to the spread of the Delta variant across the country, prompting authorities to partially shut the world’s third largest port on Thursday after a single case was identified. Global shipping costs are already at record levels. “The leadership views the economic costs of the zero-tolerance policy as manageable, and much preferable to the uncontrolled spread of Covid-19,” said Ernan Cui, China analyst at Gavekal Research. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 1.6 per cent, to $70.18 a barrel.