NEW YORK: Global stock indexes rose and U.S. 10-year Treasury yields edged up 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.
Late in the day, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved the first U.S-listed exchange traded funds (ETFs) to track bitcoin. Bitcoin has gained sharply in recent months on the expectation ETFs for the asset would be approved.
Investors are gearing up for the December consumer price index report due on Thursday. It is expected to show that headline inflation rose 0.2% in the month and by 3.2% on an annual basis.,
Investors are also anxious to see U.S. company quarterly results, which begin with reports from some of the big U.S. banks on Friday.
"There's still speculation about when the Fed may lower rates. I take them for their word - higher for longer," said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York, adding that would depend on how fast inflation is coming down.
"It will be interesting to see earnings and also outlooks in this changing environment," he said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 170.57 points, or 0.45%, to 37,695.73, the S&P 500 gained 26.95 points, or 0.57%, to 4,783.45 and the Nasdaq Composite added 111.94 points, or 0.75%, to 14,969.65.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 0.18% and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.37%.
U.S. and European markets surged at the end of 2023 as inflation cooled more quickly than expected and central banks struck a softer tone, encouraging investors to bet on big rate cuts this year.
In afternoon trading, the benchmark 10-year yield rose 1.9 bps to 4.034%. A U.S. 10-year note auction showed a high yield of 4.024%, modestly higher than the market's forecast of around 4.19%, suggesting investors demanded a slight premium.
By late afternoon, the dollar index was down 0.14% at 102.36.
Soft economic data this week in Japan may make it less likely that the Bank of Japan will raise rates out of negative territory this month.
Oil prices fell after an unexpected jump in U.S. crude stockpiles. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 87 cents, or 1.2%, to settle at $71.37 a barrel. Brent crude oil futures fell 79 cents, or 1%, to settle at $76.80.
Spot gold dropped 0.3% to $2,024.29 an ounce. - Reuters