LDN - Business

Yields, dollar rise after stronger-than-expected US PPI data

[February 17, 2024] By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. Treasury yields rose and the dollar edged up against the yen on Friday after data showed U.S. producer prices increased more than expected in January, adding to the view that any interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve are not imminent.

U.S. stocks ended lower, while the MSCI global stock index dipped slightly.

The producer price index for final demand rose 0.3% last month after declining by a revised 0.1% in December, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the PPI rebounding 0.1% following a previously reported 0.2% drop.

On Friday, market expectations the Fed will start cutting rates in June were dialed back, with CME's FedWatch Tool now showing a 69.9% chance for a cut of at least 25 basis points, down from the nearly 90% in the prior session.

"A number like this, it definitely pushes off the Fed for another month or two," said Tom di Galoma, co-head of global rates trading at BTIG in New York.

A U.S. consumer prices reading earlier this week was also stronger than expected.

The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note climbed 5.3 basis points to 4.293%, down from an earlier high of 4.33%, and was on pace for its second straight weekly gain.

The greenback also gained after the data. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was last up 0.23% at 150.26. The dollar index was last up just 0.02% to 104.29, while the euro was up 0.02% at 1.0773.

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said on Friday that monetary policy would most likely remain accommodative, even after ending negative interest rates, echoing recent reassurances from BOJ officials that have weighed on the yen.

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A pedestrian is reflected on a glass of a business building while an electric board showing Nikkei index is seen in the building at a business district in Tokyo, Japan January 23, 2024. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 145.13 points, or 0.37%, to 38,627.99, the S&P 500 lost 24.16 points, or 0.48%, to 5,005.57 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 130.52 points, or 0.82%, to 15,775.65.

U.S. markets will be closed on Monday for the Presidents' Day holiday.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe fell 0.31 points, or 0.04%, to 750.24, while Europe's STOXX 600 index rose 0.62%.

Earlier on Friday, Japan's benchmark Nikkei rallied to a 34-year high and was on the cusp of eclipsing the all-time peak reached during the heyday of the nation's bubble economy in the 1980s.

Figures on Thursday showed that Japan and Britain slipped into recession at the end of last year.

Gold eased early on Friday and was set for a second straight weekly fall, but spot gold was last up 0.4% on the day at $2,012.86 per ounce.

Oil prices rose amid geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Brent crude futures gained 61 cents to settle at $83.47 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.16 to settle at $79.19.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; additional reporting by Amanda Cooper in London and Stella Qiu in Sydney and Chuck Mikolajczak in New York; Editing by Gerry Doyle, Nick Macfie, Susan Fenton, Deepa Babington, Jonathan Oatis and Sandra Maler)

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