Treasuries fell and big-tech fueled gains in stocks, with investors awaiting Thursday’s inflation data for clues on the outlook for Federal Reserve policy.

U.S. 10-year yields topped 4 per cent after briefly falling below that mark. The S&P 500 extended this week’s advance. Bitcoin traded near US$46,000 as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved Bitcoin ETF proposals on an accelerated basis. Oil fell as a surprise buildup in U.S. stockpiles undercut the threat to supplies from Red Sea escalations.

Fed Bank of New York President John Williams said monetary policy is now tight enough to guide inflation back to the target, but suggested policymakers need more evidence of cooling inflation before cutting interest rates. The upcoming consumer-price index is expected to give a taste of the disinflation trend. 

“We’re seeing a plausible path to inflation continuing to ease gradually, an end to Fed rate hikes, and a re-acceleration of economic growth in the back half of 2024,” said Arthur Hogan at B. Riley Wealth.

Corporate Highlights:

• When Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. kick off the industry’s fourth-quarter earnings reports Friday, their results are likely to show that net-interest margins felt continued pressure from higher funding costs.
• Boeing Co.’s chief Dave Calhoun said the planemaker must own up to its shortcomings as it grapples with a safety incident that has renewed questions over the quality of its manufacturing.
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. agreed to buy Juniper Networks Inc. for $14 billion in a move that will expand its presence in networking but raised skepticism from Wall Street.

Key events this week:

• U.S. CPI, initial jobless claims, Thursday
• China CPI, PPI, trade, Friday
• UK industrial production, Friday
• U.S. PPI, Friday
• Some of the biggest U.S. banks report fourth-quarter results, Friday
• Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari speaks, Friday
• ECB chief economist Philip Lane speaks, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The S&P 500 rose 0.6 per cent as of 4 p.m. New York time
• The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.7 per cent
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5 per cent
• The MSCI World index rose 0.4 per cent

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
• The euro rose 0.3 per cent to $1.0965
• The British pound rose 0.2 per cent to $1.2734
• The Japanese yen fell 0.9 per cent to 145.82 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin rose 1.5 per cent to $46,115.61
• Ether rose 7.2 per cent to $2,483.48

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced three basis points to 4.04 per cent
• Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 2.21 per cent
• Britain’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 3.82 per cent

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.3 per cent to $71.28 a barrel
• Spot gold fell 0.3 per cent to $2,023.41 an ounce