New York — Key world stock indexes climbed on Thursday, while yields fell on some of the eurozone’s battered low-rated bonds as investors took inspiration from corporate earnings and put aside for now the political risks that have dominated markets this week. Investors had in recent weeks been pondering the potential impact of the protectionist policies of US President Donald Trump, an unpredictable European electoral future and a potential winding-down of central bank stimulus that has lifted risky assets across the globe. On Wall Street, stocks edged higher, led by energy companies, and the benchmark S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes hit record highs with a fourth-quarter earnings season that has been largely upbeat. Rising oil prices and banking stocks pushed shares higher in Europe on a busy day of corporate earnings, while Asian stocks hit their highest in more than 18 months. "The stabilisation of the oil price after its recent wobbles, together with solid earnings, for example, Soc ...
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