London — The ailing dollar fell to its lowest in over three months on Tuesday, while surprisingly upbeat Chinese manufacturing data ensured there was no serious new year hangover for world shares despite a groggy start for Europe. Sentiment was also helped by news that North Korea had offered an olive branch to South Korea, with Kim Jong Un saying he was "open to dialogue" with Seoul. MSCI’s broadest index of world shares climbed 0.15%, having set scores of record highs and risen by one-fifth in value last year alone. The driver had again been Asia and its emerging markets. Shanghai blue chips climbed 1.4% and MSCIs 24-country EM index jumped over 1% after the Caixin index of Chinese industry rose to a four-month high of 51.5 in December, confounding forecasts for a decline. The reading pointed to resilience in the world’s second-largest economy even as Beijing cracks down on industrial pollution and engineers a cooling property market. "Manufacturing operating conditions improved i...
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