In European Equity Markets the Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.7 percent, the highest in eight weeks on the biggest rise in more than two weeks. Builders and car-makers led the advance in Europe, with most of the sectors in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index showing green. Italian carmaker Fiat Chrysler rose 4 percent to hit a record high, among top STOXX gainers, while Daimler, Volkswagen and BMW led the DAX. Banks as Santander, BNP Paribas and ING were also among the top boosts to the STOXX as increasing enthusiasm about the euro zone’s recovery helped push money into financial stocks. Remy Cointreau was a rare laggard, down 3.9 percent after Investec downgraded the stock, saying Chinese anti-corruption measures could affect consumption of costly status symbol products like cognac.

In Currency Markets the US dollar fell on Thursday, failing to hold the previous session’s gains on the back of upbeat U.S. data and minutes from the Federal Reserve, as the euro resumed a rally that has taken it close to its highest levels in three years. A stronger-than-expected U.S. private-sector jobs report briefly helped the dollar pare losses versus the euro and extend gains against the yen. But those moves were short lived. The dollar rose against the yen, however, trading up 0.2 percent at 112.77 yen on strong risk appetite across markets. After dipping in early trade in Asia, reaching as low as $1.2005, the euro bounced back to trade as high as $1.2075. The euro last changed hands at $1.2062, up 0.4 percent. Sterling rose 0.3 higher at $1.3551 after services sector rebounded strongly last month.

In Commodities Markets oil rose above $68 a barrel to its highest since May 2015 on Thursday after unrest in Iran raised concerns about supply risks, with support also coming from OPEC-led output cuts and demand-boosting cold weather in the United States. Six days of anti-government protests in OPEC’s third-largest producer have added a geopolitical risk premium to oil prices, though Iran’s production and exports have not been affected. However freezing weather in the United States has spurred short-term demand, especially for heating oil. On this note Brent crude was down 11 cents at $67.73 a barrel but traded as high as $68.27 earlier in the session. U.S. crude rose 4 cents to $61.67 and also touched its highest since May 2015.

In US Equity Markets the Dow Industrial broke above the 25,000 level for the first time on Thursday and other major indexes scaled new highs after strong U.S. private jobs data added to upbeat sentiment following indications of robust growth globally. The S&P 500 was up 0.48 percent at 2,726.04. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.32 percent at 7,088.11. Eight of the 11 major S&P sectors were higher, led by 1.4 percent gain in the financial index. Wells Fargo and JPMorgan rose about 2 percent and Goldman Sachs 1.7 percent after the strong data raised the odds of a March rate hike. Victoria’s Secret-owner L Brands slid 15 percent on disappointing quarterly earnings forecast. Intel declined as much as 5 percent, adding to Wednesday’s losses that was triggered by a report that its chips were vulnerable to being hacked.

In Bond Markets Spain’s government bond yields were set for their biggest daily fall in almost two months on Thursday, after the country successfully navigated its first debt sale of the year. Most euro zone bond yields turned lower after Spain sold 4.6 billion euros worth of medium and long-term debt, towards the top end of the targeted range. France, also holding its first debt sale of the year, sold just over 8 billion euros of long-dated debt although that was at the bottom of a range targeted by the country’s debt agency. January is traditionally one of the busiest months of the year for debt issuance in the single-currency bloc. Bond yields across the single currency bloc were flat to 6 bps lower on Thursday, having traded 1-2 basis points higher in early trade.