London — Global shares were within a whisker of another record high on Wednesday as markets traded on expectations of a third US interest-rate hike in 2017, and waited to hear from the Federal Reserve how many more were likely in 2018. Solid gains in Asia overnight had moved MSCI’s 47-country world index up for a fifth day in a row and while the pre-Fed anticipation meant Europe’s main bourses were barely budged, there was action elsewhere. A technical glitch on futures markets made for a stuttering start to European government bond trading, while the dollar was down against the yen, pound and euro after President Donald Trump saw his already-wafer thin US Senate majority cut further. It fell as far as ¥113.12 as Democrat Doug Jones won a bitter fight for a Senate seat in deeply conservative Alabama, in a race marked by sexual misconduct accusations against Republican candidate Roy Moore. The stunning upset makes Jones the first Democratic senator from Alabama in a quarter of a cent...
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