World stocks down as markets eye US-China talks, Fed decision
- 18 hours ago
World stocks fell slightly on Wednesday while Treasury yields edged down, after news of a forthcoming meeting between top US and Chinese trade officials and ahead of a Federal Reserve monetary policy statement at the end of its two-day meeting.
The dollar index rose against the yen after three days of declines. Safe-haven gold declined after a two-day rally with the Fed expected to keep interest rates unchanged.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and chief trade negotiator Jamieson Greer are scheduled to meet China’s top economic official for talks at the weekend. It could be the first step to agreement after US President Donald Trump ignited a trade war with the world’s No 2 economy last month.
Bessent said his sense is the meeting in Switzerland “will be about de-escalation,” while China sounded more guarded and cited a proverb about actions speaking louder than words.
“It’s a move in the right direction. Until you begin talking you can’t make any progress,’ said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Northlight Asset Management. He noted that but “until an actual framework or deal is announced, the market doesn’t know how to digest the talks.” Also muting market moves was the upcoming Fed update. While investors are not expecting a rate change they will closely monitor Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference.
“He’ll be pressed to give more of an indication on where the Fed is leaning. Are they leaning more towards protecting the job market or are they leaning more towards fighting inflation?” said Zaccarelli.
On Wall Street at 11:01 a.m. the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 131.77 points, or 0.33%, to 40,963.18, the S&P 500 fell 1.16 points, or 0.01%, to 5,606.14 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 55.37 points, or 0.30%, to 17,636.66.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe fell 0.56 points, or 0.07%, to 841.35. The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.6%.
In currencies, the US dollar rose against the yen while the euro was barely lower as traders awaited the Fed’s update and uncertainty over trade negotiations still weighed on sentiment.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.13% to 99.37.
The euro was down 0.02% at $1.1366. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar strengthened 0.6% to 143.3.
In US Treasuries, the yield on benchmark US 10-year notes fell 3.7 basis points to 4.281%, from 4.318% late on Tuesday while the 30-year bond yield fell 5 basis points to 4.7628%.
The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with expectations for Fed interest rate policy, rose 0.8 basis points to 3.797%, from 3.789% late on Tuesday.
In commodity markets, oil prices dipped as investors waited for the outcome of the U.S.-China trade talks.
US crude fell 0.58% to $58.75 a barrel and Brent fell to $61.71 per barrel, down 0.71% on the day.
Gold prices fell due to a firmer dollar and U.S.-China trade talks optimism, as traders awaited the Fed decision.
Agencies