LONDON, 16 December 2003 — World stocks climbed while gold and oil prices eased yesterday as investors welcomed news of the capture of ex-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, though a boost to the dollar proved short-lived.
Markets in Asia were among the first to respond to news that an eight-month manhunt for the 66-year-old ex-dictator had finally come to an end after Saddam was discovered late Saturday hiding in a hole near his hometown of Tikrit.
Japanese share prices soared 3.16 percent to a five-week high of 10,490.77 points, and European stocks followed suit.
European shares closed off morning highs yesterday.
In London the FTSE 100 index closed virtually flat with a gain of 0.01 percent at 4,348.0 points, in Frankfurt the DAX closed up 0.40 percent at 3,875.47 points, while in Paris the CAC 40 rose 0.57 percent to 3,490.42 points. The DJ Euro Stoxx 50 index of leading euro zone shares advanced 0.50 percent to 2,698.77 points.
Elsewhere in Europe, Milan’s Mib30 index rose 0.54 percent to 27,305 points, Amsterdam’s AEX nudged 0.10 percent higher to 330.26 and Madrid’s Ibex-35 added 0.50 to 7,471.8.
The SMI index of leading Swiss shares gained 0.55 percent to 5,427.1 and the Bel-20 in Brussels edged up 0.08 percent to 2,172.84.
Wall Street also surged yesterday. In early afternoon trade, the Dow Jones industrials average of 30 top stocks was up 55.70 points or 0.55 percent at 10,097.86, after spiking to a high of 10,139.63.
The broader Standard and Poor’s 500 index advanced 3.17 points or 0.29 percent to 1,077.30. The technology-laden NASDAQ edged up 1.83 points or 0.09 percent to 1,950.83.
The dollar staged a brief rally on news of the US breakthrough, but quickly saw the gains reversed as concerns over the big US current account and budget deficits tempered optimism.
The euro stood at 1.2290 dollars in late European trading against 1.2282 late on Friday in New York. Against the yen the dollar stood at 107.77 from 107.86.
Asian stocks posted strong gains yesterday. The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Nikkei-225 index gained 321.11 points to end the day at 10,490.77.
In Hong Kong, the key Hang Seng Index lost 74.25 points to close at 12,520.17, after moving within a range of 12,504.29 to 12,740.50.
In Sydney, the All Ordinaries index closed up 35.7 points at 3,252.0. In Singapore, the Straits Times Index rose 15.44 points to 1,743.17, off an earlier morning high of 1,751.71. In Seoul, the composite index up 1.99 percent or 16.08 points to 822.16.
Oil prices slid on hopes of an easing of sabotage attacks on the oil industry in Iraq, which is sitting atop the world’s second-biggest proven oil reserves.
The price of benchmark Brent North Sea crude oil for January delivery lost 35 cents per barrel to $30.02 in late afternoon deals in London. New York’s reference light sweet crude dropped 57 cents to $32.47 in out-of-hours electronic trading.
Gold, which has seen its status as a “safe-haven” investment reinforced in recent years by worries about global security, fell sharply on news of the US coup but subsequently clawed back as the dollar resumed its slide. On the London Bullion Market, the spot price of an ounce of gold was down one dollar to $407.85 in late deals.
