US stocks rise after Powell’s remarks yield slip

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Major US stock indexes rose on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the US central bank is “strongly committed” to lowering inflation, while benchmark Treasury yields slumped.

Stocks turned positive after Powell’s testimony before the US Senate Banking Committee. The US dollar slipped and the dollar index fell 0.431%.

“The market is reading it positively… He is very committed to attacking inflation,” said Tim Greskey, chief portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York. “It is sensitive because higher rates will hurt parts of the economy, but this is necessary to achieve price stability.”

The Federal Reserve recently raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point — its biggest hike since 1994. Read more

The Nasdaq led the gains on Wall Street.

Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) The S&P 500 rose 31.4 points, or 0.1%, to 30,561.65 (.SPX) Gained 10.22 points or 0.27% to 3775.01 and the Nasdaq Composite (nineteenth) It added 72.36 points, or 0.65%, to 11,141.66 points.

Pan-European STOXX 600 Index (.stoxx) Lost 0.67% and the MSCI gauge of stocks worldwide (.MIWD00000PUS) fall 0.22%.

Overnight, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan (MIAPJ0000PUS.) It fell 2.3 percent, close to a five-week low.

Investors continue to assess how worried they are about the possibility of central banks driving the global economy into recession as they try to curb inflation by raising interest rates.

The Bank of Japan’s monetary policy meeting minutes released on Wednesday that were released on Wednesday showed the central bank’s concerns about the impact of a depreciating currency on the business environment in the country. Read more

The Japanese yen strengthened 0.53% to 135.89 per dollar.

In Treasuries, the benchmark 10-year yield was 3.151% after hitting 3.498% on June 14, the highest level since April 2011.

In commodities, US crude was recently down 4.56% to $104.53 a barrel, and Brent crude was at $109.76, down 4.27% on the day. Read more

Investors digested news of US President Joe Biden’s plan to cut fuel costs for drivers. Read more

Spot gold rose 0.4% to $1,839.71 an ounce.

(Carolyn Valitkevich reports). Additional reporting by Mark Jones in London, Sam Byford in Tokyo, Shadia Nasrallah in Bengaluru, and Stephen Kolb in New York. Editing by William MacLean and Will Dunham

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