US stocks climbed to record highs, gold fell and the dollar extended gains as the minutes from the Federal Reserve's December policy meeting showed officials continued to back gradual interest-rate increases.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose past 2,700 for the first time, while the Nasdaq Composite index and Dow Jones Industrial Average reached all-time highs. An earlier report showed U.S. manufacturing expanded in December at the fastest pace in three months. European stocks rose following a positive session in Asia and bonds gained as the region's new investment regulations finally took effect.
"There's no desire within the Fed anywhere to actually moderate any potential boom and cause a downturn,' said Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist at Northwestern Mutual in Milwaukee. "They will let it run hot . . . I don't think the Fed will stomp it out."
Most participants at the Fed gathering reiterating support for "continuing a gradual approach to raising the target range" for the benchmark policy rate, according to minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's December 12-13 meeting. US central bankers raised interest rates by a quarter percentage point and penciled in three more hikes for 2018, according to the median estimate.
Elsewhere, West Texas oil approached US$62 ($87) a barrel for the first time in three years, surpassing a crucial threshold for spurring new shale drilling. Gold dropped from a near four-month high after the Fed minutes were released.
