Wall Street stocks rise, sterling regains some ground

By Sinéad Carew and Elizabeth Howcroft

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – European stocks struggled on Wednesday but Wall Street’s indexes were up very slightly as investors waited for key inflation data and the start of earnings season.

The dollar climbed to a fresh 24-year peak versus the yen, holding above levels that prompted intervention by Japan last month, while sterling regained ground after a sharp fall the previous day as investors eyed the Bank of England’s next steps.

Wall Street stocks switched from green to red on Tuesday after BoE Governor Andrew Bailey said pension funds hit by a spike in UK gilt yields had just three days left to fix their problems before the BoE ends its emergency bond-buying scheme.

But the BoE has also signalled privately to lenders that it is prepared to extend the support beyond Friday’s deadline if necessary, the Financial Times reported.

Global equity markets have been volatile in recent sessions due to heightened fears about an economic slowdown and the impact of aggressive interest rate hiking by central banks including the U.S. Federal Reserve.

While Wednesday’s U.S. inflation reading, the Producers Price Index (PPI), appeared to do little to change expectations for the Fed’s November rate hike, investors were laser-focused on Thursday’s Consumer Price Index (CPI). Also the minutes from the Fed’s latest policy meeting are due out later on Wednesday.

“Investors and traders in all markets are in a wait and see approach. They’re waiting for inflation data and earnings and waiting to see how markets react to the data,” said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of 50 Park Investments in Orlando, Florida.

And in the meantime, they are wary of U.K. events with worries about a potential repeat of the 2008 financial crisis during which Lehman Brothers bank collapsed.

“The BoE is trying to do something to prevent a disaster. If that disaster occurs it could become another Lehman moment,” said Sarhan.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 102.45 points, or 0.35%, to 29,341.64, the S&P 500 gained 4.17 points, or 0.12%, to 3,593.01 and the Nasdaq Composite added 4.37 points, or 0.04%, to 10,430.56.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 0.42% and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.06%.

Sterling was last trading at $1.1079, up 1.06% on the day. The British pound had hit a 13-day low of $1.0925 during Asian trading hours, after the BoE comments on Wednesday.

Meanwhile Britain’s economy unexpectedly shrank in August, GDP data showed.

The euro up 0.01% against the dollar to $0.9704 while Japanese yen weakened 0.71% versus the greenback at 146.91 per dollar. [FRX]

In treasuries the recent sell-off eased a bit on Wednesday, even as Wedneday’s data suggested inflation will remain high and keep the Fed on track to aggressively hike interest rates.

Benchmark 10-year notes were down 0.8 basis points to 3.931%, from 3.939% late on Tuesday.

Oil futures fell on Wednesday as a gloomy economic outlook and a strong dollar outweighed supply concerns stemming from last week’s OPEC+ cut to its production target. [O/R]

U.S. crude recently fell 1.94% to $87.62 per barrel and Brent was at $92.78, down 1.6% on the day.

Gold eked out gains on Wednesday after five sessions of losses, although an uptick in the dollar kept prices in check as investors waited for the Fed minutes.

Spot gold added 0.2% to $1,668.10 an ounce. U.S. gold futures fell 0.64% to $1,668.00 an ounce.

The war in Ukraine also continued to weigh on market sentiment. A leak on a pipeline carrying oil from Russia to Europe added to concerns about energy security.

Asian stocks were stuck near two-year lows, weighed down by signs that China will persist with its strict COVID-19 policies.

(Reporting by Sinéad Carew in New York, Elizabeth Howcroft in London; Editing by Alex Richardson, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Nick Macfie)