LONDON, December 13, Reuters -- World stocks, oil prices and the dollar fell on Monday as a general upbeat mood took hold of world markets ahead of a host of central bank meetings this week, including the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Equity markets across Europe opened higher, with the pan-region STOXX 600 index last up 0.35%, while the U.S. equity futures were around 0.25% firmer.
China's blue-chip CSI 300 index closed up 0.6%. The country's top leaders pledged to prioritise economic stability in 2022, as it rose to its highest in almost five months on hopes for more stimulus.
British Prime Minster Boris Johnson warned of a tidal wave of new cases of the coronaviruses, but markets are counting on vaccines to limit the economic fallout.
The view helped lift oil prices around 1%, while the dollar was generally firm ahead of Tuesday's Federal Reserve meeting.
The U.S. central bank is expected to signal a faster tapering of asset buying, and thus an earlier start to rate hikes. The dot plots will be updated over the next couple of years.
The market is already ahead, with a 25 basis point rise fully priced in June.
The Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan are all meeting to normalise their policy at their own, often glacial pace.
April LaRusse, head of fixed income investment specialists at Insight Investment said, "We expect that the main central banks will start hiking interest rates."
She said that if the Fed increases the taper from $15 billion to something like $30 billion, they could be finished by March, which would allow them to hike rates after that.
The Treasury market has taken the risk of earlier Fed hikes with equanimity, perhaps in the belief that it will lead to lower inflation over the long run and a lower peak for the cash rate.
Yields on 10 year notes went up almost 13 basis points last week, but they are still well below the high of 1.776% for the year.
The prospect of a more aggressive Fed has been supportive of the dollar.
The dollar index was around 0.2% firmer at 96.328 on Monday. The dollar was up a fifth of a percent at 113.60 yen, while the euro fell by a quarter of a percent to $1.12875.
Jonathan Petersen, a market economist at Capital Economics, said the dollar rally looks due to a pause if the Fed delivers a major revision to its forward guidance.
There is scope for the greenback to appreciate more over the course of next year. The government warned about the spread of Omicron, which was weighing on sentiment, and Britain's pound fell by 0.4% to $1.32240.
Turkey's lira crashed by 7% in just a few minutes to a new record near 15 to the dollar, gripped by worries over President Tayyip Erdogan's risky new economic policy and the possibility of another interest rate cut on Thursday.
The US inflation reading gave gold little support in commodity markets, but it went nowhere near $1,786 an ounce after gaining just a few moments of support from Friday's lofty U.S. inflation reading.