Stocks mixed, bonds fall amid inflation, earnings
BNN Bloomberg
Stocks were mixed and bonds fell on Wednesday as investors weighed risks from inflation against the start of the earnings season.
Stocks were mixed and bonds fell on Wednesday as investors weighed risks from inflation against the start of the earnings season.
U.S. equity futures rose and Europe’s Stoxx 600 Index was little changed. Mining and energy shares outperformed, while retailers slumped as Tesco Plc fell to the lowest in six months after warning profit will be squeezed amid the U.K.’s cost-of-living crisis.
U.K. inflation surged to a 30-year high before the Bank of England’s next decision in May, while New Zealand’s central bank delivered its biggest interest-rate increase in 22 years. Markets continued to digest Tuesday’s U.S. inflation data, which prompted traders to pare back expectations on how aggressively the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates.
A gauge of the dollar was steady and the yen fell to a 20-year low as the growing gap between rising U.S. bond yields and perpetually low ones in Japan continued to pressure the currency.
Oil rose after Russia vowed to continue the war in Ukraine and China partially eased COVID curbs.
Among notable premarket moves, Sierra Oncology Inc. shares jumped after GlaxoSmithKline agreed to buy the biopharmaceutical company for about US$1.9 billion. JPMorgan Chase & Co. was little changed ahead of its first-quarter results due later on Wednesday.
