Shares at new highs on rise in confidence Friday 11.15 GMT. Many stock benchmarks are sitting at fresh highs as investors express increasing confidence about global economic prospects. Away from equities the underlying market mood also remains fundamentally positive. Commodities are firm - copper is up 0.4 per cent to $3.68 a pound and Brent crude is adding 20 cents to $113.55 a barrel - while currencies allude to growing demand for racier bets, with the euro gaining 73 pips to $1.3447, an 11-month high. The corollary is the selling of supposed havens, such as the dollar, down 0.3 per cent on a trade-weighted basis, and US Treasuries, with 10-year yields rising 4 basis points to 1.90 per cent. Gold is advancing $2 to $1,669 an ounce. The FTSE All-World equity index is up 0.2 per cent to 233.2 as the FTSE Eurofirst 300 turns an early loss into a gain of 0.1 per cent and after the Asia-Pacific region climbed 0.3 per cent. Germany's Dax and the UK's FTSE 100 are at multiyear highs. US futures suggest Wall Street's S&P 500, which on Thursday briefly traded above 1,500 for the first time in more than five years, will add 4 points to Thursday's five-year closing peak of 1,495. All this ebullience leaves the All-World at its best level in 20 months, with the "risk asset" bulls having enjoyed another mostly positive week. Sentiment has been lifted in recent months by better economic data from the US, China and lately the eurozone; a fading of US budget fears; and the continued support, via ultra-loose monetary policy, of many of the world's major central banks. Easing sovereign debt and financial system stresses in Europe have also contributed to the chipper mood. And greater confidence about the continent's banking sector, following details of repayments to the European Central Bank, has crimped investors" appetite for safety, pushing 10-year Bund yields to 1.63 per cent, a near three-month high. Much of this optimism has been expressed in rises for equities as they discount better economic conditions ahead. And yet some would argue that share prices are getting ahead of themselves given the evidence from the ongoing, and somewhat mixed, corporate earnings season. Many high-profile technology stocks in particular are having a difficult time living up to expectations. Apple has been a noteworthy casualty of delivering perceived underperformance and Microsoft's results after Thursday's closing bell have also not been very well-received. This has again put pressure on the Asian IT sector, exacerbated by news on Friday that Samsung, the world's biggest technology group by revenue, has warned of slowing demand in developed economies. Consequently, the two tech-rich bourses of Taiwan and South Korea have endured a second consecutive session of losses, slipping 0.3 per cent and 0.9 per cent respectively. Chinese shares have also displayed weakness, with the Shanghai Composite falling 0.5 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng down 0.1 per cent. But it's a different story in Japan, where the sight of the dollar trading above 90 to the yen has reinvigorated the stock market's remarkable rally of the past few months as investors welcome attempts by the authorities to break free from the country's deflationary malaise. The Nikkei 225 surged 2.9 per cent to its best closing level since May 2010, completing an 11th consecutive week of gains, its best ever weekly winning run, according to Reuters data. The dollar is up 0.6 per cent to Y90.88, the highest since June 2010. Without the Nikkei's advance the Asia-Pacific region is recording a decline on Friday of 0.3 per cent. Doing its bit to help, however, is the Sydney exchange, after the resource-stock replete S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.5 per cent. This took Australian shares to their highest in 21 months and partly reflects growing hope of increased commodity demand as China's economy picks up steam. Investors have received a reminder, however, of the patchy nature of global growth. UK fourth-quarter GDP fell by a greater-than-expected 0.3 per cent, data released on Friday showed. The pound dropped to a five-month low of $1.5746 and gilt yields initially eased back from session peaks in response. Sterling is currently down 0.1 per cent to $1.5777, but 10-year government bonds are now yielding 2.07 per cent, up 6 basis points, reflecting moves in their US and German peers.