• U.S. Treasury yields rose along with the U.S. dollar and Wall Street rallied, lifting the Dow above 21,000, as investors increased bets on an imminent interest rate hike and gave a sigh of relief after President Donald Trump's speech to Congress.
• The S&P 500 and Nasdaq had their best one-day gain since Nov. 7, one day before Trump's election, and they also closed at record highs along with the Dow. The global MSCI ACWI index, rose 0.9 percent and also hit a record.
• Financial stocks were the biggest boost for Wall Street after hawkish comments from two prominent Federal Reserve Officials as higher rates help bank profits.
• In his speech Tuesday, Trump pledged to deliver "massive" tax relief to the middle class and corporate tax cuts, to spend heavily on infrastructure and to ease regulations.
• While some investors had hoped for specifics on how the administration would pay for its promises, investors who had kept money off the table ahead of the speech were relieved by the President's more measured than expected tone.
• The yield on 2-year Treasury notes rose to a high of 1.308 percent, its highest since August 2009 while the10-year notes' yield rose to 2.471 percent, the highest since Feb. 16.
• The dollar hit a seven-week high on Wednesday after hawkish comments from two Federal Reserve officials late on Tuesday boosted expectations that the U.S. central bank is closer to raising interest rates. The U.S. dollar rose 0.6 percent against a basket of six major currencies to 101.73, after earlier reaching 101.97, its highest since Jan. 11.
Against Japan's currency, the greenback climbed 1.05 percent to touch a two-week high of 114.04 yen.
• U.S. consumer spending cooled in January as demand for automobiles and utilities fell, but inflation recorded its biggest monthly increase in four years, raising the probability of an interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve this month.
The Commerce Department said consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, increased 0.2 percent after rising 0.5 percent in December.
Consumer spending is likely to remain supported amid promises by the Trump administration of sweeping tax cuts and increased infrastructure spending.
• In January the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index increased 0.4 percent - the largest gain since February 2013 - after rising 0.2 percent in December.
In the 12 months through January, the PCE price index jumped 1.9 percent. That was the biggest year-on-year gain since October 2012 and followed a 1.6 percent increase in December.
• Excluding food and energy, the so-called core PCE price index rose 0.3 percent in January. That was the biggest increase since January 2012 and followed a 0.1 percent gain in December.
The core PCE price index increased 1.7 percent year-on-year after a similar gain in December. The core PCE is the Fed's preferred inflation measure.
• A report released by the Institute for Supply Management on Wednesday also put pressure on the precious metal as its ISM manufacturing index increased by 1.7 points to a 57.7 level, a figure which analysts note was both stronger-than-expected and also the highest rate of growth in this measure since August 2014.
• Oil prices ended slightly lower on Wednesday as record high U.S. crude supplies tempered expectations that the market will rebalance as evidence emerges that OPEC producers are complying with an agreement to cut production.
Crude stockpiles in the United States, the world's top oil consumer, rose 1.5 million barrels last week, less than forecast, but touching a record at 520.2 million barrels after eight straight weekly builds.[EIA/S]
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures for April delivery CLc1 settled at $53.83 a barrel, down 18 cents or0.3 percent. May Brent crude futures LCOc1 dropped 15 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $56.36 a barrel.
Reference: Reuters, Xinhua
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