London — Asia and Europe’s big bourses kept world shares on their record-breaking run on Tuesday, though a steadier dollar halted the sizzling start to the year for the euro, yen and yuan and sent metals markets sprawling. MSCI’s all-country world index notched its third consecutive all-time high as growing confidence about the global economy pushed Japan’s heavyweight Nikkei to its best level since 1991 during a lively Asian session. The pan-European STOXX 600 then crawled 0.1% to 0.3% higher as technology and insurance stocks offset a 0.5% drop in miners caused by the buckling metals prices. Copper slumped 1.8%, while nickel plunged almost 4%. For both, it was their biggest drop since early December, after which they went on to surge 10% and 20%, respectively. Analysts put the wobble partly down to supply issues after stockpiles of iron ore at China’s ports leapt to the highest since at least 2004, but also the dollar — used to price commodities — pulling out of a four-day dive. "...
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