U.S. stocks and government-bond prices clawed back some of Tuesday’s losses, as investors prepare for central banks globally to raise interest rates.
The S&P 500 rose 0.4% in early trading Wednesday. The benchmark gauge lost 1.8% Tuesday, its second decline in three trading days. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.5% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%, or 91 points.
Some of the U.S.’s biggest lenders reported rising earnings before the market opened. Bank of America shares rose 4.7% after the lender reported a jump in fourth-quarter profits, while Morgan Stanley’s shares gained 3.7% on profits that topped forecasts. U.S. Bancorp fell 5.2% after the bank holding company posted a rise in compensation costs. This earnings season, Goldman Sachs,
and
have also reported shelling out more in compensation.
said consumers were undeterred by higher prices, leading to higher revenue and lifting shares of the consumer-goods company 0.2%. Earnings are due from
and United Airlines after markets close.
Investors have stepped up bets that major central banks will tighten monetary policy.
Photo:
Wang Ying/Zuma Press
Government-bond prices edged up, pushing down yields. Yields on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes slipped to 1.859% from 1.866% Tuesday, which was their highest level since January 2020. Yields on interest rate-sensitive two-year notes were down slightly to 1.035% from 1.038% Tuesday.
Europe’s most closely watched government bond yield turned positive for the first time since 2019. The yield on 10-year German bund rose as high as 0.021% Wednesday after trading in negative territory for over 30 months. It then eased to 0.010%. Ten-year U.K. yields, meanwhile, reached their highest level since March 2019 after data showed inflation hitting a 30-year high.
In Tokyo,
lost 13% following gaming rival Microsoft’s deal to buy Activision Blizzard, maker of World of Warcraft and Call of Duty. The drop was Sony’s biggest since 2008.
European luxury-good stocks rose after Switzerland’s Cie. Financière Richemont reported forecast-beating results. Richemont shares added 7.5% and LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton rose 3.7% in Paris.
Investors have stepped up bets that the Federal Reserve and other major…