Worldwide stock markets didn’t move much, but U.S. Treasury yields rose, and the dollar got stronger on Thursday. This happened because the latest data indicated that consumer prices in the U.S. went up more than what was predicted for September.
This news made some people think that U.S. interest rates might need to stay high. However, the recent increase in tensions in the Middle East during the week left a sense of caution in the air in the financial markets.
Oil prices went up, with U.S. crude rising by 1.35% to $84.62 per barrel, and Brent reaching $87.08, an increase of 1.47% for the day.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 62.02 points, which is 0.18%, to reach 33,742.85. The S&P 500 gained 2.76 points, a 0.06% increase, bringing it to 4,379.71. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite added 44.47 points, rising by 0.33% to reach 13,704.15.
In Europe, the pan-European STOXX 600 index increased by 0.15%, and MSCI’s global stock gauge gained 0.04%.
In September, the U.S. consumer price index went up by 0.4%, primarily due to a surge in rental costs. However, there’s a consistent decrease in the overall inflation pressure, which is reinforcing the belief in the market that the Federal Reserve won’t be raising interest rates in the coming month.
The recent positive performance in the stock market is a result of statements made by Federal Reserve officials, indicating that U.S. interest rates, which often influence borrowing costs around the world, may have reached their highest point for now.
In the early hours of trading, the interest rates on the 10-year U.S. government bonds ticked up by 1.5 basis points to reach 4.611%. They had previously touched their lowest point in two weeks.
Stuart Cole, who is the chief macro economist at Equiti Capital, commented, “Looking at the (CPI) report, it’s probably not enough on its own to convince the FOMC that they should start raising interest rates again in November.”
In the foreign exchange market, the dollar index saw a 0.615% increase, reaching 106.310, while the euro decreased by 0.63% to $1.055.
The price of spot gold experienced a slight dip, going down by 0.1% to $1,871.65 per ounce.
