U.S. dollar rallies, treasury yields touch 2008 high
BNN Bloomberg
The dollar soared to another record after the White House talked down the prospect of weakening the currency, while the continuing global bond rout pushed 10-year Treasury yields to the highest since 2008.
Major equity levels crumbled after a slew of hawkish Federal Reserve speakers stoked fears about rising interest rates and the economic outlook. European stocks dropped for a fifth day as investors abandon the region at levels last seen during the euro area debt crisis, according to Citigroup Inc. strategists. U.S. futures and Asian shares also fell.
Health care was the only sector in the green, after Eisai Co. and partner Biogen Inc. said their drug significantly slowed Alzheimer’s disease. Miners underperformed as the surging dollar and concerns about demand for raw materials sent commodity prices to the lowest level since January. Apple Inc. fell in premarket trading after a report that it scrapped plans to increase iPhone production.
Meanwhile, natural gas prices in Europe surged after Russia said it may cut off supplies via Ukraine and the European Union said severe damage to two gas pipelines from Russia was deliberate. Putin moved to annex a large chunk of Ukrainian territory amid a string of military setbacks in its seven-month-old invasion.
