NEW YORK, Nov 8 — The dollar gained and world shares pared losses yesterday, as stocks on Wall Street surged and investors assessed Federal Reserve commentary about a too-strong US economy that could require another interest rate hike to tame inflation.

Gold hit a two-week low as the safe-haven rally triggered by Mideast tensions ebbed and oil prices hit 2-1/2-month lows as mixed economic data from China offset the impact of Saudi Arabia and Russia extending output cuts.

Treasury yields fell as other Fed officials speaking yesterday suggested the US central bank could be near the end of its tightening cycle, helping US equity indexes to rise, with the Nasdaq up almost 1 per cent as large-cap growth stocks surged.

The rally on Wall Street pushed the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to post their longest winning streaks in two years.

But Fed Governor Christopher Waller said "blowout” third-quarter US economic growth at an annualized 4.9 per cent rate warrants watching as the US central bank considers its next policy moves, leading a colleague to explicitly call for another hike.

Fed Governor Michelle Bowman said she took the recent GDP number as evidence the US economy not only "remained strong,” but may have gained speed and require a higher Fed policy rate.

"We’re in for a much longer cycle of higher rates than the most bullish people are expecting,” said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments in New Vernon, New Jersey. "Inflation is something that we’ve learned is hard to tamp down once it really gets going.”

But Meckler said the bigger investor concern is whether there will be a meaningful US recession or not, a reason why investors are buying large-cap tech stocks with "iron balance sheets and the predictable cash flows,” as they’re seen as the least likely to be hurt in a recessionary environment.

The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.9 per cent, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.28 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.17 per cent.

But MSCI’s gauge of global stock performance closed down 0.15 per cent, while the pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 0.16 per cent.

The dollar advanced as last week’s rally in riskier currencies took a breather, gaining on the euro after a larger-than-expected fall in German industrial production in September.

"The dollar on a broad basis is still quite strong,” said Brad Bechtel, global head of FX at Jefferies in New York. "The economy’s going to hold in there, and then we get these dovish pendulum swings back the other way, which is where we’re at now.”

Against a basket of currencies, the dollar index rose 0.25 per cent to 105.52, with the euro down 0.2 per cent to US$1.0694 (RM4.96).

The euro and most other currencies gained sharply on the dollar last week after various data — most notably a US labour report that showed job growth slowed in October.

Currency traders were also focused on the Australian dollar, which fell about 1.1 per cent to US$0.642 after the Reserve Bank of Australia announced a 25 basis point hike, as expected, taking the cash rate to a 12-year high of 4.35 per cent.

But the central bank softened its language on the necessity of any further action.

Treasury yields slipped ahead of large bond auctions this week. US benchmark 10-year yields have dropped in five of the last six sessions, and 30-year yields in four of the last five.

The two-year’s yield, which reflects interest rate expectations, fell 2.8 basis points to 4.913 per cent, while the 10-year slipped 8.7 basis points at 4.575 per cent.

Earlier, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 1.2 per cent, snapping three straight days of gains.

In China, data showed imports unexpectedly grew in October, while exports contracted faster than expected, in a mixed set of indicators that showed the recovery in the world’s second-largest economy remains uneven.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.7 per cent, while mainland China blue chips .CSI300 fell 0.4 per cent.

Crude oil fell more than 4 per cent, with US crude sliding US$3.45 to settle at US$77.37 a barrel and Brent falling US$3.57 to settle at US$81.61.

US gold futures settled down 0.8 per cent at US$1,973.50 an ounce. — Reuters