Stocks hit record highs as Fed tapering concerns ease By Reuters

By Matt Scuffham and Huw Jones

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) -Global shares hit record highs Wednesday after data showed U.S. consumer price increases slowed in July, easing concerns that the Federal Reserve will imminently signal a scaling back of bond purchases.

The data showed tentative signs inflation had peaked as supply-chain disruptions work their way through the U.S. economy.

“This is a more moderate reading than expected, especially on the core,” said Gennadiy Goldberg, an interest rate strategist at TD Securities in New York.

Speculation is growing that the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will signal timings on tapering stimulus at a meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Aug. 26-28.

Stronger-than-expected inflation data may have fuelled talk of an imminent slowing of the Fed’s bond purchases, said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA Europe.

“Instead, we can all breathe a little easier, albeit safe in the knowledge that tapering is still coming and it’s likely to be announced next month,” he said.

U.S. non-farm payrolls figures due in September could also influence tapering if they are particularly strong.

It may take a few months more for the U.S. job market to recover enough that the Federal Reserve can reduce its crisis-era support for the economy, Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Thomas Barkin told Reuters.

The MSCI all-country index, a gauge of stocks across the globe, hit a record high and was last trading up 0.25%.

The and S&P500 also hit record highs, with sentiment boosted by U.S. lawmakers approving a trillion-dollar infrastructure package Tuesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 190.03 points, or 0.54%, to 35,454.7, the gained 7.22 points, or 0.16%, to 4,443.97 and the dropped 34.91 points, or 0.24%, to 14,753.18.

European shares also hit record highs, clocking their longest winning streak in two months. The index rose 0.4% to hit an all-time high for an eighth consecutive session.

OIL GAINS, TREASURY YIELDS FALL

Oil gained Wednesday, changing course after the Biden administration said it would not call on U.S. producers to increase crude output, and that efforts to increase OPEC production were a longer-range plan.

oil futures settled at $69.25 per barrel, up 96 cents or 1.41%. futures settled at $71.44 per barrel, up 81 cents or 1.15%.

U.S. Treasury yields fell in choppy trading, following a strong 10-year note auction. 10-year yields dropped to session lows, falling from four-week peaks earlier in the session.

Benchmark 10-year notes rose 4/32 in price to yield 1.3303%, down from 1.342% late on Tuesday.

Gold prices jumped following the inflation data.

U.S. settled up 1.2% at $1,753.30.

added 1.4% to $1,752.72 an ounce. U.S. gold futures gained 1.23% to $1,750.40 an ounce.

The fell 0.189%, with the euro up 0.19% to $1.174.

Asian shares had slipped as fears about further waves of the coronavirus dampened a positive lead from Tuesday’s record close on Wall Street.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.3%.

The Delta variant of the new coronavirus is spreading quickly in many Asian countries, raising fears about local restrictions on travel and other activity damaging the economic recovery.