Stocks rise, Treasury yields slip in run-up to US inflation data
Business
Stocks rise, Treasury yields slip in run-up to US inflation data
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global stock indexes rose and U.S. Treasury yields dipped on Wednesday as investors looked ahead to a U.S. consumer price report for possible clues on when the Federal Reserve could begin cutting interest rates.
Bitcoin fell after being whipsawed late on Tuesday after a social media message on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's account claimed the regulator had approved bitcoin exchange traded funds (ETFs), but was later revealed to have been made by an unauthorized person.
Bitcoin was last down 1.4% at $45,477. The SEC will decide later in the day whether to approve an application from asset managers Ark Investments and 21Shares ABTC.S to launch a spot bitcoin ETF.
Investors are gearing up for the consumer price index report on Thursday. It is expected to show that headline inflation rose 0.2% in the month and by 3.2% on an annual basis. (USCPI=ECI), (USCPNY=ECI)
"There's still speculation about when the Fed may lower rates. I take them for their word - higher for longer. But it will be data dependent, and if inflation comes down more than the Fed wants, that's going to be the next issue," said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 44.88 points, or 0.12%, to 37,570.04, the S&P 500 (.SPX) gained 10.13 points, or 0.21%, at 4,766.63 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 54.49 points, or 0.37%, at 14,912.20.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) lost 0.17% and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe (.MIWD00000PUS) gained 0.13%.
Earlier, Japan's Nikkei (.N225) - which had its best year in a decade in 2023 - climbed 2% to break above 34,000 for the first time since 1990. Exporters led the charge, helped by a softening yen after data showed Japanese real wages shrank for a 20th month in November.
U.S. and European markets surged at the end of 2023 as inflation cooled quicker than expected and central banks struck a softer tone, encouraging investors to bet on big rate cuts this year.
In late morning trading, the benchmark 10-year yield was slightly down at 4.011% . U.S. 30-year bond yields were flat 4.186% .
In addition, investors are awaiting the auction of $37 billion in reopened 10-year Treasury notes later on Wednesday to gauge demand for U.S. sovereign debt.
The dollar index fell 0.02%, with the euro up 0.21% to $1.0954.
Geopolitical tensions were also on the radar as disruptions in the Red Sea and a production outage in Libya raised oil prices, and an election looms in Taiwan.
U.S. crude recently rose 0.01% to $72.25 per barrel and Brent was at $77.48, down 0.14% on the day. Spot gold dropped 0.2% to $2,025.49 an ounce.
