Stocks trade off session highs; dollar advances
BNN Bloomberg
Stocks pared gains as traders assessed the path of monetary policy against the latest economic readings. The dollar climbed with bonds.
Stocks pared gains as traders assessed the path of monetary policy against the latest economic readings. The dollar climbed with bonds.
The S&P 500 came off session highs after Tesla Inc. extended its plunge, with strong results being overshadowed by cautious comments on supply-chain troubles. Apple Inc. rallied ahead of its quarterly earnings, with the shares bouncing back from their longest losing streak since 2016.
More than US$5 trillion has been wiped out from stock values this year as traders struggled to price the outlook for monetary policy. Markets had been factoring in four quarter-point hikes in 2022, but that edged toward five after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested the economy and labor market could withstand a faster pace if warranted. Data Thursday showed U.S. gross domestic product accelerated by more than forecast in the fourth quarter, while applications for state unemployment insurance fell for the first time in four weeks.
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On the geopolitical front, Russia criticized Western security proposals aimed at defusing a crisis over Ukraine, while still leaving the door open to further talks. This comes a day after the U.S. and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization delivered written responses to Russia, broadly rejecting Moscow’s demands that the alliance close its door to Ukraine’s potential membership and roll back forces from former Soviet states.
