A rally in stocks that began in Asia continued through the U.S. Monday session on fading concerns over the potential damage of Hurricane Irma and as Korean Peninsula tensions took a backseat ahead of Tuesday trade.
Hurricane Irma, originally a Category 5 hurricane, was downgraded to a tropical storm as it moved inland. Irma hit the coast of Florida over the weekend and markets grew optimistic after the hurricane looked to have caused less damage than originally thought.
Stocks on Wall Street closed higher on Monday as investors assessed the damage from Irma. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.19 percent, or 259.58 points, to close at 22,057.37, the S&P 500 jumped 1.13 percent to end at 2,448.11 and the Nasdaq surged 1.08 percent to finish the session at 2,488.11.
Meanwhile, markets kept an eye on geopolitical tensions on the Korean Peninsula as the United Nations Security Council voted to increase sanctions against North Korea on Monday. North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test earlier this month. The additional UN sanctions included a limit on the amount of crude oil imported by the North, according to Reuters.
The increased global confidence led to the dollar firming overnight. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six currencies, jumped to 91.875 at 6:54 a.m. HK/SIN. The index had fallen touched a 2-1/2-year low of 91.011 last Friday.
The U.S. currency also firmed against the yen, with the greenback last fetching 109.26 yen compared to levels around the 108.5 handle seen toward the end of the Asian trading session on Monday.
Yields of the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose 8 basis points to stand at 2.13 percent on Monday after falling to their lowest levels since November last week.
