By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Global stock indexes edged higher while Treasury yields slipped on Wednesday as investors tried to assess the timing of possible rate cuts from the Federal Reserve, while the dollar eased off of a three-month peak against the yen.
Japan’s top currency officials warned on Wednesday against what they described as rapid and speculative yen moves overnight.
Nvidia, whose shares were last up 1.7% and helped to support the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, topped Alphabet’s market value to become the third-most valuable U.S. company.
Investors digested comments from Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee, who said the Fed’s path back to its 2% inflation target rate would still be on track even if price increases run a bit hotter-than-expected over the next few months, and the central bank should be wary of waiting too long before it cuts interest rates.
Market expectations for a cut by the Fed in June of at least 25 basis points stand at 78.5%, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool, while expectations for a cut in May have fallen to 38.5%, down from 63.7% a week ago.
The latest shift in rate expectations came after an upside surprise in U.S. inflation on Tuesday that showed the consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.1% on an annual basis, above forecasts for a 2.9% increase.
“What’s most disconcerting is the pick-up in inflation almost across the board, and certainly in the service side, obviously the hottest part of the economy,” said Paul Nolte, senior wealth advisor and market strategist for Murphy & Sylvest.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.08 points to 38,273.36, the S&P 500 gained 14.19 points, or 0.29%, to 4,967.38 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 58.00 points, or 0.37%, to 15,713.60.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe rose 1.92 points, or 0.26%, to 741.50, and the STOXX 600 index rose 0.47%. Japan’s Nikkei, which hit its highest in 34 years on Tuesday, fell 0.7%.
The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 2.7 basis points to 4.289%, from 4.316% late on Tuesday. Yields had surged on Tuesday following the CPI data.
The dollar index fell 0.06% at 104.80, with the euro up 0.09% at 1.0719. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar weakened 0.11% at 150.62. The dollar was at a three-month peak against the yen on Tuesday.
The 150 level has been seen in the past as a potential catalyst for intervention by Japanese monetary authorities. It was just past this level that they intervened to shore up the yen in late 2022.
In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin gained 4.71% at $51,872.80. Ethereum rose 4.67% at $2756.2.
Oil futures edged down as higher U.S. crude inventories weighed on prices. U.S. crude lost 0.08% to $77.82 a barrel and Brent rose to $82.8 per barrel on the day.
Spot gold lost 0.11% to $1,989.89 an ounce.
(Additional reporting by Amanda Cooper in London, Rae Wee in Singapore and Johann M Cherian and Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Jan Harvey and Nick Zieminski)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.