NEW YORK, Oct 31 — Global stock indexes advanced yesterday, with US stocks rallying more than 1 per cent after recent sharp declines, while the yen rose to a two-week high against the dollar after a report that the Bank of Japan is considering tweaking its yield curve control policy.

Oil prices settled more than 3 per cent lower, partly as fears eased about the Israel-Hamas war disrupting supply from the region.

The Nikkei report, that the BOJ is considering adjusting its yield curve control policy to allow the 10-year Japanese government bond yield to rise above 1 per cent, pushed the yen to 148.81 per dollar, its strongest level since October 17.

The greenback was last down 0.4 per cent at ¥149.05.

The BOJ kicked off its two-day monetary policy meeting yesterday. The recent surge in global interest rates has heightened pressure on the BOJ to change its bond yield control policy.

The US Federal Reserve and Bank of England are also meeting this week. The US monthly jobs report is due on Friday.

"If the BOJ does not do anything tomorrow, which I think that’s what economists expect, and just wait until December, I think the dollar jumps right back versus the yen,” said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex in New York.

The dollar index fell 0.469 per cent, with the euro up 0.51 per cent at US$1.0618 (RM7.71).

Stock investors also are closely monitoring quarterly earnings this week, with several big US companies including Caterpillar and Apple due to report this week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 511.37 points, or 1.58 per cent, to 32,928.96, the S&P 500 gained 49.45 points, or 1.20 per cent, to 4,166.82 and the Nasdaq Composite added 146.47 points, or 1.16 per cent, to 12,789.48.

Wall Street stocks posted losses for last week as economic data seemed to support the "higher for longer” interest rate scenario.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.36 per cent and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.86 per cent.

In US Treasuries, yields pared gains after the Treasury Department said it expects to borrow US$76 billion less this quarter than anticipated in the third quarter on expectations of higher revenue receipts.

The Treasury said it expects to borrow US$776 billion in the fourth quarter, down from US$852 billion the prior quarters, assuming an end of December cash balance of US$750 billion, the department said in a statement.

Yields on 10-year Treasury notes were last up 4.1 basis points at 4.886 per cent, after reaching 4.922 per cent earlier in the day. Last week the benchmark note hit a 16-year high of 5.021 per cent.

In energy, US crude fell US$3.23 to settle at US$82.31 a barrel, while Brent dropped US$3.03 to US$87.45. — Reuters