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Stocks climb up, yields fall as data supports rate cut bets

An international equity index increased and Treasury yields fell on Friday after weak U.S. financial information and remarks from Federal Reserve authorities reinforced expectations for interest rate cuts later on this year.

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its producing PMI fell to 47.8 last month from 49.1 in January, the 16th straight month that the PMI remained listed below 50. This indicates contraction in manufacturing.

The University of Michigan surveys of consumers revealed all 3 measures for belief, current conditions and customer expectations falling more than anticipated.

On Friday, Fed Governor Chris Waller kindled hopes for lower interest rates, stating decisions about the supreme size of the Fed balance sheet has no bearing in its inflation battle rate policy.

On Thursday, U.S. personal intake expenses (PCE). report can be found in in-line with expectations and showed annual. inflation development the smallest in 3 years.

When you take all of it together, you're seeing the. balance tilting a bit more toward the probability of there. being more rate cuts, which has actually supported equities, said Sinead. Colton Grant, primary financial investment officer at BNY Mellon Wealth. Management.

She also stated equities drew assistance from a more powerful than. anticipated profits season and interest about synthetic. intelligence.

A note of care originated from Richmond Federal Reserve. President Thomas Barkin, who stated U.S. cost pressures still. exist and it is

too soon to predict

when the Fed will cut rates.

On Wall Street at 02:53 p.m. EST

, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 80.25 points,. or 0.21%, to 39,076.64, the S&P 500 gained 41.05 points,. or 0.81%, to 5,137.32 and the Nasdaq Composite gained. 198.67 points, or 1.23%, to 16,290.60.

On Thursday, the Nasdaq closed at a record high for the. Time in more than 2 years, stimulated by gains in AI-linked. stocks such as chip designer Nvidia and others.

MSCI's gauge of stocks around the world rose. 5.94 points, or 0.78%, to 767.22. The STOXX 600 index. had actually closed up 0.6%.

Earlier, Eurostat figures published revealed inflation. across the 20-nation euro zone likewise reduced to 2.6% in February. from 2.8% a month earlier.

Worldwide factory surveys on Friday revealed making output. had actually continued to fall in both Europe and Asia.

Previously, in Asia, Japan's Nikkei index leapt 1.9%. to hit a fresh all-time high, extending a surge of 7.9% the. previous month when it breached levels last seen in 1989.

In U.S. Treasuries, the two-year yield fall sharply after. the manufacturing data and Waller's idea of the requirement for. more shorter-dated Treasuries.

The 2-year note yield, which usually moves. in action with interest rate expectations, fell 11.9 basis points. to 4.5271%, from 4.646% late on Thursday.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes. fell 6.8 basis indicate 4.184%, from 4.252% while the 30-year. bond yield fell 4.4 basis points to 4.3313% from. 4.375%.

In currencies, the dollar gained versus the Japanese yen. after Bank of Japan (BOJ) governor Kazuo Ueda said it was too. quickly to state triumph on inflation, however the dollar was down. versus the euro.

Against the Japanese yen, the dollar enhanced. 0.07% to 150.09 yen. The dollar index, which determines the. greenback against a basket of major currencies, fell 0.23% to. 103.88, while the euro was up 0.33% at $1.0839.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin was up 1.28% at $62,231 after. hitting a more than two-year high of $63,933 on Wednesday.

In commodities, oil rates settled higher as traders awaited. an OPEC+ decision on supply arrangements for the second quarter. while they weighed U.S., European and Chinese economic information.

U.S. unrefined settled up 2.2% at $79.97 a barrel and. Brent completed at $83.55 per barrel, up 2% on the day.

In metals, gold started the month on a positive note, with. rates rising to a two-month high the muted economic data.

Spot gold added 2.07% to $2,085.49 an ounce.

(source: Reuters)