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Dollar rises with bond yields; stocks lackluster

October 12, 2017

New York (Oct 12)  The U.S. dollar snapped a losing streak on Thursday in the wake of solid U.S. economic data but U.S. Treasury yields dipped and Wall Street stock indexes were largely unchanged as earnings season kicked off with a whimper.

While investors cheered a 0.4 percent increase in the U.S. producer price index for final demand last month, inflation concerns were still in focus as U.S. central bankers showed they were taking a more guarded view. Bond traders were waiting on consumer price data due out on Friday for further indications whether inflation is picking up.

"PPI was a little bit better, but that doesn't really translate well to CPI," said Gennadiy Goldberg, an interest rate strategist at TD Securities in New York. "I think for the most part, markets are still waiting for the CPI report tomorrow."

Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 2/32 in price to yield 2.3374 percent, from 2.345 percent late on Wednesday.

The 30-year bond last /32 in price to yield 2.8761 percent, from 2.876 percent late on Wednesday.

MSCI's gauge of stock markets across the globe gained 0.06 percent, buoyed gains in Asian markets. The index reached a record high, as it has for seven of the past eight trading days.

After two days of hitting records, the U.S. benchmark S&P index took a breather as investors were less than impressed with quarterly reports from two major banks, JPMorgan and Citigroup .

Scott Clemons, chief investment strategist for Brown Brothers Harriman in New York said that "after a long stretch of consecutive highs in the market, with earnings, even if they are slightly disappointing" that is an excuse to sell off.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 7.32 points, or 0.03 percent, to 22,865.57, the S&P 500 lost 1.8 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,553.44 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.69 points, or 0.01 percent, to 6,604.24.

After four straight days of declines, the dollar index, tracking the greenback against a basket of major currencies , rose 0.15 percent.

The euro was down 0.16 percent to $1.1838, snapping four straight days of gains after rising to its highest since Sept. 25 earlier in the session.

The Mexican peso lost 0.30 percent versus the U.S. dollar at 18.76 amid concerns the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) talks could run aground.

Bitcoin smashed through the $5,000 barrier for the first time ever , and was last up 8.6 percent on the day.

Meanwhile, sterling slipped to a three-day low against the greenback after the European Union's chief negotiator said Brexit talks were at an "impasse," ramping up political risks for the currency which is down about 12 percent since last year's EU vote. In Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan reached its highest point since late 2007, ending up 0.7 percent on the day.

Japan's Nikkei rose 0.4 percent, hitting its highest since late 1996. South Korea's KOSPI added 0.55 percent to reach a record high.

In commodities, oil prices fell as U.S. fuel inventories rose despite efforts by OPEC to cut production .

U.S. crude fell 1.72 percent to $50.42 per barrel and Brent was last at $56.00, down 1.65 percent on the day.

Spot gold added 0.1 percent to $1,292.50 an ounce.

Reuters

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