Dollar, yields rise, backed by U.S. data; stocks, oil fade

The U.S. dollar jumped on Friday and Wall Street’s stock rally faded as fresh economic data kept alive Federal Reserve rate increases, while oil prices turned negative late in the session.

The S&P 500 ended slightly lower but finished the week up 1.6 percent. Europe’s FTSEurofirst 300 stock index .FTEU3 tallied a 1.6-percent rise on Friday, fueled by strength in mining shares as industrial metals such as copper CMCU3 and aluminum CMAL3 gained.

The dollar rose broadly and the dollar index .DXY, a measure of the greenback’s value against six major currencies, gained 0.8 percent to post its best weekly performance since November. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar rose to a more than one-week high.

Treasury yields also rose after data showed U.S. consumer spending rose solidly in January and underlying inflation picked up by the most in four years. A report also showed U.S. gross domestic product growth in the fourth quarter was revised higher, to a 1.0 percent annual rate.

With equity markets off to a weak start in 2016 amid concerns about an economic slowdown, investors have been awaiting the Fed’s next policy move after the central bank raised rates in December.

Federal funds futures FFc1 implied traders see a 36-percent chance of the Fed raising rates in June and 53-percent chance in December, both above Thursday’s levels, according to CME Group’s FedWatch program.

“This information today, while actually good for Main Street, is less than good for a Wall Street that has become addicted to the Fed’s largesse,” said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 57.32 points, or 0.34 percent, to 16,639.97 and the S&P 500 .SPX lost 3.65 points, or 0.19 percent, to 1,948.05. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 8.27 points, or 0.18 percent, to 4,590.47.

European equities rallied for a second day, for a 1.6 percent gain on the week.

MSCI’s gauge of global stock markets .MIWD00000PUS was up just 0.1 percent. The index was set for its biggest two-week percentage increase since October.

With oil’s steep 1-1/2-year slide, equities’ performance has been tightly linked to the commodity’s daily fluctuations, with investors viewing oil as a proxy for the health of the global economy.

After an initial rally that pushed benchmark Brent crude prices to their highest level since early January, oil prices faded as players took profits on winning positions.

U.S. crude CLc1 settled down 0.9 percent at $32.78 a barrel, while Brent settled down 0.5 percent at $35.10 a barrel. For the week, U.S. crude gained about 11 percent.

Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR fell 21/32 in price to yield 1.77 percent, up from 1.70 percent late Thursday.

“We got some pretty surprising GDP data, an upward revision, and not too many people had pegged that,” said Thomas Simons, a money market economist at Jefferies LLC in New York.

Source: Reuters