European shares jumped to a three-month high, buoyed by prospects of more easing by the ECB in its next meeting on Thursday. The pan-European index FTSEurofirst 300 advanced to 1,518, with a 0.43% gain, and set for a robust monthly profit of 2.24% for November, its second month of gains in a row. Germany's DAX rose 92 points, or 0.81% to 11,385. France's CAC 40 added 25 points, or 0.51% to 4,954. Britain's FTSE was more muted, affected by mining companies; it last traded at 6,382, with a 0.11% profit.
Oil futures climbed ahead of an OPEC meeting on Friday that traders hope would somehow conjure up a strategy to support prices. Brent futures rose 63 cents, or 1.42% to $45.49 a barrel, set for a monthly gain of 1.57%. U.S. crude futures muscled up by 60 cents, or 1.44% to $42.31 a barrel.
Wall Street opened higher in tandem with their European counterparts, with Dow Jones gaining 25 points, or 0.14% to 17,825. NASDAQ rose 12 points, or 0.25% to 5,140. S&P 500 added 3.4 points, or 0.17% to 2,093.
Dollar traded confidently on top of other currencies, with its index up 0.15% to 100.20, heading for a monthly profit of 3.0%. Dollar briefly touched a seven-month high against Euro at 1.0563 before edging back to 1.0582, with a 0.10% profit. It pounded sterling to a similar low, going as high as 1.4994 before steadying to 1.5027 with a 0.02% gain. Dollar is trading at a week's high against the yen at 123.08 with a 0.23% profit.
Yen reversed its earlier gains, falling 0.19% against the euro to 130.27. It gave up 0.18% against sterling, to trade at 184.99.
Gold futures were up 3 dollars, or 0.31% to $1,059.50 an ounce, but were set for their biggest monthly fall in 2-1\2 years. Silver futures rose 4 cents, or 0.30% to $14.05, in line for a hefty monthly loss of 9.7%.