By Elizabeth Dilts Marshall

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Global shares edged higher on Wednesday on the strength of U.S. equities markets that were boosted by rising oil prices and positive economic data out of the United States.

U.S. factory data indicated that August manufacturing activity was strong despite the slowdown caused by closures due to severe storms, and the continued shortage of microchips.

The U.S. import price for August fell for the first 10 months. This was in response to Tuesday’s data from U.S. Labor Department that showed inflation had cooled and could have peaked.

After stockpiles dropped to their lowest level since September 2019, U.S. crude oil rose more than $2 Wednesday.

The MSCI All Country World Index rose 0.26% and all three major U.S. stock indices closed higher.

However, the pan-European index closed down 0.80% after U.K. data showed that inflation hit a more than nine-year high last month.

Investors await the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee meeting next week to see what the Fed has to say about its bond-buying plan and when it will start tapering.

“Risk markets across Europe and America are trading at a low level ahead of next weeks’ FOMC meeting. Economic data is failing to support conviction in reflation trades at the moment,” ANZ analysts stated.

The rose 236.82 points, or 0.68%, the gained 37.65 points, or 0.85%, and the added 123.77 points, or 0.82%.

Possible increases to the U.S. corporate tax rate remain important in the background, and one bank estimated that raising the corporate tax to 25% could shave 5% off S&P500 earnings in 2022.

Aptus Capital Advisors’ portfolio manager David Wagner stated that the market is still fragile, even if there is some tapering. A material shift in tax policy could lead to a volatile market.

According to data from China, factory output and sales growth fell by one year in August as new COVID-19 epidemics and disruptions suggested a slowdown.

Due to the sharp fall in’s which fell below key support as safe-haven purchasing boosted the yen, the dollar dropped 0.122% last week.

The yield on was up 2.3 basis points to 1.302% after earlier touching a three-week low of 1.26%.

settled up 3.1% at $72.61 a barrel, and ended 2.5% higher at $75.46 a barrel.

1.790.56 an inch, or 0.8%. U.S. fell 0.68% to $1,792.40 an ounce. [GOL/]