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Stocks tick up as strong quarter nears end; yen on intervention watch

A gauge of international shares edged up on Thursday as it headed for its 2nd straight quarter of strong gains, while a strong dollar kept the yen languishing near its weakest in decades amidst the threat of intervention from Japanese authorities.

Wall Street's primary stock indexes opened bit altered and markets broadly were largely rangebound ahead of Friday's. much-anticipated U.S. personal usage expenditures (PCE). price index information, a closely watched inflation step. Couple of. markets will be open to assess and respond to the fresh data,. Given the long Easter weekend in many nations.

People are most likely a little cautious about placing. ahead of PCE, said Sameer Samana, senior international market. strategist at the Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

For a lot of individuals today will be the last day of the week,. they are probably squaring positions for the quarter, for the. month.

Heightened focus was on the yen, which last. strengthened 0.06% versus the greenback at 151.21 per dollar,. having slid to a 34-year low of 151.975 in the previous session.

Japan's three primary financial authorities held an emergency situation. conference on Wednesday to discuss the weak yen, and recommended they. were prepared to intervene in the market to stop what they. referred to as disorderly and speculative relocations in the currency.

As soon as dollar/yen touches 152, I believe there will probably be. a sharp move upward, which's when intervention could take. location, stated Takeshi Ishida, a currency strategist at Resona. Holdings.

The dollar acquired on the euro after a U.S. Federal Reserve. policymaker stated he wasn't in a hurry to cut rates.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Wednesday that. recent frustrating inflation data verifies the case for the. reserve bank to hold back on cutting its short-term rate of interest. target, but he did not dismiss trimming rates later on in the. year.

The dollar index fell 0.03% at 104.39, with the euro. down 0.18% at $1.0807.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe. rose 0.05%. The index was on speed to publish a gain of over 7% for. the first quarter.

Wall Street's primary indexes were little changed in. late-morning trade ahead of quarter end.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 20.96 points,. or 0.05%, to 39,739.12, the S&P 500 got 4.91 points,. or 0.09%, to 5,253.36 and the Nasdaq Composite got. 8.18 points, or 0.05%, to 16,407.70.

Data on Thursday revealed the U.S. economy grew faster than. formerly approximated in the 4th quarter, raised by strong. consumer costs and company investment in nonresidential. structures like factories. Gdp increased at a. 3.4% annualized rate last quarter, modified up from the. previously reported 3.2% pace.

U.S. Treasury yields ticked down slightly after the release. of the GDP data, but stayed in narrow bands ahead of an early. close before the Friday's market holiday.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes last. edged down to 4.194%, from 4.196% late on Wednesday.

Oil costs increased as financiers prepared for tighter materials. provided the OPEC+ producer alliance is widely expected to stay the. course on its current production cuts.

U.S. crude gained 1.2% to $82.33 a barrel and Brent. rose to $87.26 per barrel, up 1.36% on the day.

(source: Reuters)