NEW YORK/LONDON :Global shares rose on Monday while the U.S. dollar fell but still traded near one-year highs as traders pared expectations of future interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
President-elect Donald Trump has begun making appointments, filling health and defense roles last week, but key positions for financial markets, Treasury secretary and trade representative have yet to be filled.
The incoming administration is expected to focus on lowering taxes and raising tariffs, which could stoke inflation and limit the Fed’s ability to cut rates.
U.S. Treasury yields shed gains and eased in choppy trading, with the yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes dropping 1 basis point to 4.416 per cent.
“I think the yield on the 10-year is an indication of the bond market saying that there continues to be risk to the budget, the deficit, and that inflation may still be lurking in the system if we’re going to get tariffs,” said Wasif Latif, president and chief investment officer at Sarmaya Partners.
“The nature and the shape of those tariffs might actually be inflationary. So I think the bond market is sending a signal, whereas the stock market took a little bit of a breather last week, but today it looks like the party is back on.”
The benchmark S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite finished higher, with energy, communication services, and consumer discretionary stocks driving gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was dragged down by materials stocks.
The Dow fell 0.13 per cent to 43,389.60, the S&P 500 rose 0.39 per cent to 5,892.62 and the Nasdaq rose 0.60 per cent to 18,791.81.
European stocks finished lower, weighed down by real estate and utilities stocks. The STOXX 600 index closed down 0.06 per cent. MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe rose 2.99 points, or 0.35 per cent, to 845.60.
Nvidia is scheduled to report third-quarter results on Wednesday, with analysts expecting the artificial-intelligence chip leader to record a jump in revenue.
Shares of Nvidia have nearly tripled this year, with its hefty weighting in the S&P 500 partially helping to lift the index to record highs.
The greenback strengthened 0.29 per cent against the Japanese yen to 154.605. The dollar index, which measures the currency against a basket of six others, was down 0.51 per cent to 106.19, trading just below its one-year peak of 107.07.
Oil prices rose following reports that output at Norway’s Johan Sverdrup oilfield has halted, adding to earlier gains stemming from escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Brent crude futures settled at $73.30 a barrel, gaining 3.2 per cent. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled at $69.16 a barrel, rising 3.2 per cent.
Gold prices rose after six days of losses, as the U.S. dollar’s surge stalled. Spot gold rose 1.93 per cent to $2,610.73 an ounce. U.S. gold futures settled 1.7 per cent up at $2,614.60.
“It should be a quieter week as the recent relentless wave of U.S. macro and political news flow in theory slows down, with the main story on this front being on potential political appointments for the new Trump administration,” Deutsche Bank head of global economics and thematic research Jim Reid said.
