U.S. stock indexes ended Wednesday off session highs, after earnings-related optimism fueled by Netflix Inc. moderated and investors geared up for another batch of key quarterly results.

The S&P 500 was little changed when markets closed while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 jumped 0.5 per cent. U.S. Treasury yields rose, with the 30-year rate climbing to its highest level so far this year. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index trimmed earlier declines. 

Tesla Inc. and International Business Machines Corp. report results after the closing bell. Investors are also getting ready to parse a slew of U.S. economic data — including gross domestic product — on Thursday, while continuing to mull when the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates. 

“Frankly, everything depends on the incoming data now and there are a lot of potentially significant releases over the next few weeks that could swing the odds of a March rate cut in either direction,” Paul Ashworth, chief North America economist at Capital Economics, wrote. “We still think the Fed will lower rates by 25 basis points at that upcoming meeting.”

U.S. data that released earlier on Wednesday showing business activity expanded in January by the most in seven months bodes well for stocks, according to Renaissance Macro’s Neil Dutta.

“Growth is up and inflation is down. The former puts a ceiling on how many cuts the Federal Reserve will do while the latter means the Fed still ends up cutting,” he said. “Very good scenario for equity markets.”

Read: Hedge Fund Stars Who Got China Wrong Are Paying a Big Price 

Earlier, Bank of Canada held its key interest rate at 5 per cent, as expected, and signaled it’s done hiking. Also on the roster this week is European Central Bank’s policy meeting on Thursday. Euro-area bond yields slipped earlier after data showed business activity contracted in January for the eighth month. 

Elsewhere, industrial metals prices received a boost after China signaled plans to stimulate its economy by cutting the reserve requirement ratio for banks. The move should allow Chinese banks to step up lending and their purchases of government bonds. The news also supported Brent crude around US$80 a barrel.  

Key events this week:

• Eurozone ECB rate decision, Thursday
• Germany IFO business climate, Thursday
• U.S. GDP, initial jobless claims, durable goods, wholesale inventories, new home sales, Thursday
• Japan Tokyo CPI, Friday
• U.S. personal income & spending, Friday
• Bank of Japan issues minutes of policy meeting, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The S&P 500 was little changed as of 4 p.m. New York time
• The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.5 per cent
• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3 per cent
• The MSCI World index rose 0.1 per cent

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2 per cent
• The euro rose 0.2 per cent to $1.0880
• The British pound rose 0.2 per cent to $1.2717
• The Japanese yen rose 0.5 per cent to 147.62 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin rose 0.7 per cent to $39,485.13
• Ether fell 0.1 per cent to $2,199.39

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced five basis points to 4.17 per cent
• Germany’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 2.34 per cent
• Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 4.01 per cent

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.3 per cent to $75.35 a barrel
• Spot gold fell 0.8 per cent to $2,012.42 an ounce