Dollar Falls Most in 7 Years; Dow Erases 2016 Loss on Rate Path
- Industrial, raw-material shares propel U.S. stocks higher
- Oil surges above $40 a barrel for first time since December
Deep Dive Into Fed Policy and U.S. Economy
The dollar sank to an eight-month low, oil topped $40 a barrel for the first time in three months and the Dow Jones Industrial Average erased losses for the year as the Federal Reserve’s scaled-back path for interest-rate increases sparked demand for riskier assets.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index has fallen more than 2 percent since the Fed’s Wednesday decision to set a higher bar for when it may raise rates again. Rallies by industrial, raw-material and energy stocks helped the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climb almost all the way back from a loss that reached 11 percent in a month ago. Dollar-denominated commodities from copper to zinc surged, while crude rallied 4.5 percent. Emerging-market assets jumped to the highest since December.