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Oil prices rise as government bond yields increase

U.S. Treasury Yields reached their highest level since 2007, and oil prices rose, on Tuesday. This weighed down global stocks which continued a'selloff' from the previous session.

Investors have been increasingly concerned about inflation and the long-term fiscal outlook of the United States. This has led to a steady increase in yields on U.S. government debt. Germany's yields also reached their highest level since 2009.

Fed Chair Kevin Warsh is reluctant to give any guidance about the future of rates, but it's expected that rates will rise by at least one quarter point.

There should be no shock factor in the fact we've seen an exuberant economy, earnings growth just hitting 30% last quarter, and a geopolitical conflict driving up commodity price," said Edison Byzyka. Chief investment officer at Credent Wealth Management.

I think the Fed must raise rates immediately. If the Fed doesn't raise rates at least by a quarter (percentage point), we will see the bond markets punishing the Treasury market.

The three major?indices of Wall Street all finished lower. Losses were led by consumer discretionary, communications services, and utilities stocks. The?biggest gainers were energy shares.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 0.63%. The S&P 500 fell 0.45% and the Nasdaq Composite was down by 0.78%.

The STOXX Europe 600 Index fell by 0.28%, after reaching its lowest level since the 12th of June.

The main MSCI world stock index fell by 0.5%.

Benchmark Brent crude futures were above $108 a barrel after Yemen's Iran aligned Houthis launched another wave of attacks against Saudi Arabia, and began digging in positions along the Red Sea coast on the west of Yemen.

The price of oil has also steadily risen, as have the prices for gasoline and diesel. Energy supplies have been limited since U.S.-Israel launched joint attacks against Iran late February, prompting that nation to blockade Strait of Hormuz. Recent Houthi attacks further impeded the flow of energy out the Middle East.

INTEREST RATE IN FOCUS

The yield on 10-year Treasury notes reached a peak not seen since 2007 in advance of the Fed's rate announcement on Wednesday. The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10 year notes increased 4.5 basis points, to 5%.

The benchmark German Bund yields in the Eurozone rose to 3.56%, their highest level for over 17 years.

Bank of Japan will likely raise interest rates by?25 basis points to 1.25% on Friday at the conclusion of its two-day session, signaling further tightening in the future. The yen is being bolstered by policymakers after an intervention that helped to?steer it away from a low of 40 years.

The dollar gained in value against its peers before the Fed's possible rate increase.

The dollar gained 0.49% against the Japanese yen to 155.11. The euro currency fell 0.07% to $1.1539 against the dollar.

The dollar index (which measures the greenback in relation to a basket currency) rose by 0.16%, reaching 99.65.

Spot gold dropped 0.06% to $4.295.52 per ounce.

(source: Reuters)