Markets rise as US leading index increases again

The Federal Reserve's announcement on Wednesday that it will keep interest rates low for a “considerable time” continued to affect markets on Thursday. Gold jumped 3.3 percent on Thursday while global stocks rose to a record high.

Among economic data on Thursday, the Conference Board reported that its index of US leading indicators rose 0.5 percent in May, its fourth consecutive increase.

Another report from the US on Thursday showed that jobless claims fell 6,000 to 312,000 last week.

However, in the UK, the strong run of economic data took a break on Thursday with a report showing that retail sales fell 0.5 percent in May, the first decline since January.