Dollar, yields rise, backed by U.S. data; stocks, oil fade
A man (3rd L) looks at an electronic stock quotation board as passers-by walk past, outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan January 20, 2016. REUTERS/Toru Hanai
By Lewis Krauskopf
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar jumped on Friday and Wall Street's stock rally faded as fresh economic data kept alive Federal Reserve rate increases, while oil prices turned negative late in the session.
The S&P 500 ended slightly lower but finished the week up 1.6 percent. Europe's FTSEurofirst 300 stock index <.FTEU3> tallied a 1.6-percent rise on Friday, fueled by strength in mining shares as industrial metals such as copper
The dollar rose broadly and the dollar index <.DXY>, a measure of the greenback's value against six major currencies, gained 0.8 percent to post its best weekly performance since November. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar rose to a more than one-week high.
Treasury yields also rose after data showed U.S. consumer spending rose solidly in January and underlying inflation picked up by the most in four years. A report also showed U.S. gross domestic product growth in the fourth quarter was revised higher, to a 1.0 percent annual rate.
With equity markets off to a weak start in 2016 amid concerns about an economic slowdown, investors have been awaiting the Fed's next policy move after the central bank raised rates in December.
Federal funds futures
"This information today, while actually good for Main Street, is less than good for a Wall Street that has become addicted to the Fed’s largesse," said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> fell 57.32 points, or 0.34 percent, to 16,639.97 and the S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 3.65 points, or 0.19 percent, to 1,948.05. The Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> added 8.27 points, or 0.18 percent, to 4,590.47.
European equities rallied for a second day, for a 1.6 percent gain on the week.
MSCI's gauge of global stock markets <.MIWD00000PUS> was up just 0.1 percent. The index was set for its biggest two-week percentage increase since October.
With oil's steep 1-1/2-year slide, equities' performance has been tightly linked to the commodity's daily fluctuations, with investors viewing oil as a proxy for the health of the global economy.
After an initial rally that pushed benchmark Brent crude prices to their highest level since early January, oil prices faded as players took profits on winning positions.
U.S. crude
Benchmark 10-year notes
“We got some pretty surprising GDP data, an upward revision, and not too many people had pegged that,” said Thomas Simons, a money market economist at Jefferies LLC in New York.
(Additional reporting by Tariro Mzezewa, Barani Krishnan and Karen Brettell in New York, Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru and Patrick Graham in London; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Nick Zieminski)
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