Global equities closed at fresh 2009 highs on Monday, gold hit a record peak and most other commodity prices advanced, with the dollar at a new low for more than a year as its efforts to rally last week fizzled out.

There was only a brief respite for the US currency from remarks by Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, who said the central bank was monitoring foreign exchange markets closely and would conduct policy in a way that would “help ensure the dollar is strong”. Instead, confidence was lifted by stronger-than-expected headline US retail sales data and robust Japanese growth figures.