NEW YORK, LONDON—Wall Street’s major stock averages closed higher on Tuesday, steadying in the afternoon after early volatility while Treasury yields rose as investors waited anxiously for U.S. inflation data due later in the week.
The U.S. dollar was little changed versus the euro and other major currencies, hovering close to its weakest level in seven months as investors positioned themselves ahead of the December consumer price data due on Thursday.
U.S. Treasury yields rose as investors prepared themselves for how inflation numbers might influence the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hiking path as it has been prioritizing its fight against decades-high inflation.
The consumer price index (CPI) is expected to show December’s headline inflation at 6.5 percent versus 7.1 percent in November.
“Generally the markets are waiting for this Thursday’s CPI print coming out for December. It will probably be the biggest data point for the week and certainly give us some clarity around the direction of inflation,” said Mona Mahajan senior investment strategist at Edward Jones.
“We’re sensing a bit of sideways movement in the market today and probably we'll continue to get that.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 186.45 points, or 0.56 percent, to 33,704.1, the S&P 500 gained 27.16 points, or 0.70 percent, to 3,919.25 and the Nasdaq Composite added 106.98 points, or 1.01 percent, to 10,742.63.
While the S&P finished up near its session high, it was still well below Monday’s intraday high, which had been its highest level since mid December. The benchmark had flitted between red and green territory in morning trading.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 0.59 percent and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.30 percent while emerging market stocks rose 0.05 percent.
Signs of slowing wage inflation from the December jobs report released on Friday had provided some reassurance that inflation has peaked, potentially giving the Fed leeway to slow its interest rate hikes.
But investors had been anxious ahead of an appearance by Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday where the policy maker avoided speaking about rate hikes in a speech in Sweden.
“What you might have had coming into today was a market that was a bit on edge as to what Powell might say and then a minor sigh of relief when he said nothing,” said Eric Theoret, Global Macro Strategist at Manulife Investment Management.
However, with consumer price increases still well above the central bank’s target of 2 percent, two Fed officials on Monday had issued a stark reminder that interest rates will have to keep rising, no matter what investors have priced in.
San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly told the Wall Street Journal she would pay close attention to the CPI data and that both 25- and 50-basis point hikes were options for her. Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said his “base case” was for no rate cuts this year or next.
“Inflation and what the Fed’s response to it is still remains the number one focus and anxiety for the market,” said Manulife’s Theoret.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, rose 0.107 percent, with the euro up 0.06 percent to $1.0734.
“Until a more hawkish Fed narrative emerges, the dollar is likely to remain under pressure,” said Win Thin, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman, who added that current dollar weakness may be overdone.
The Japanese yen weakened 0.26 percent versus the greenback at 132.21 per dollar even after data showed a faster pick-up in Tokyo inflation that could prompt the Bank of Japan to tighten monetary policy more quickly.
Benchmark 10-year notes were up 9.2 basis points to 3.610 percent, from 3.517 percent late on Monday. The 30-year bond was last up 8.9 basis points to yield 3.7387 percent, from 3.65 percent. The 2-year note was last was up 4.4 basis points to yield 4.2431 percent, from 4.199 percent.
Oil prices were higher as the U.S. government forecast record global petroleum consumption next year and as the dollar hovered at seven-month lows.
U.S. crude settled up 0.66 percent at $75.12 per barrel and Brent finished at $80.10, up 0.56 percent on the day.
In precious metals, spot gold added 0.3 percent to $1,877.01 an ounce. U.S. gold futures gained 0.29 percent to $1,878.10 an ounce.
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