World stocks rally grinds higher; London hits new peak

LONDON: The global 2018 rally continued to grind higher Monday, with London hitting an all-time peak amid broad gains in Asia and Europe.

Asian equities mostly advanced following yet more records on Wall Street, with Hong Kong chalking up a blistering tenth day of gains.

The positivity spilled over into Europe with London scaling another record pinnacle at 7,733.39 points, before turning flat ahead of a widely-expected UK government reshuffle.

Frankfurt and Paris maintained momentum to gain about 0.3 percent each.

"The FTSE 100 is little-changed... but having touched a new record at the beginning of the session, the broadly bullish trend remains intact," said IG analyst Chris Beauchamp.

Before the weekend, New York powered higher Friday with the Dow surging further above 25,000 points as bullish investors shrugged off a disappointing US jobs report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.9 percent at 25,295.87, its third straight record and the second close above the 25,000 landmark.

Wall Street was unperturbed by a well-below-forecast jobs reading. Investors looked past news that 148,000 new jobs were created in December, well off the 190,000 expected.

With the corporate earnings season about to begin, global equities continue to see in the new year on a positive note, with optimism boosted by a strong US economy -- and solid prospects elsewhere.

There is "nothing to rattle investors at the moment", ETX Capital analyst Neil Wilson told AFP.

"For now, earnings expectations continue to rise and there is positivity about forthcoming US earnings season," Wilson noted.

- Hong Kong extends run -

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In Asia, Hong Kong rose 0.3 percent to continue an impressive run of gains that have seen the Hang Seng Index rise more than five percent to its highest level since late 2007.

Shanghai jumped 0.5 percent while Tokyo was closed for a public holiday.

Seoul put on 0.6 percent as officials from North and South Korea prepare to hold talks for the first time since 2015.

- Key figures around 1100 GMT -

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London - FTSE 100: FLAT at 7,722.15 points

Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 0.3 percent at 13,365.10

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.3 percent at 5,486.34

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.3 percent at 3,618.93

Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 0.3 percent at 30,899.53 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 3,409.48 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: Closed for public holiday

New York - DOW: UP 0.9 percent at 25,295.87 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1996 from $1.2029 late on Friday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3526 from $1.3566

Dollar/yen: UP at 113.15 yen from 113.06 yen

Oil - Brent North Sea: UP 14 cents at $67.76 per barrel

Oil - West Texas Intermediate: UP 31 cents at $61.75