By Sinéad Carew and Elizabeth Howcroft
NEW YORK/ PARIS (Reuters) – Global stocks were barely changed and U.S. Treasury yields rose as data showing cooler U.S. inflation countered investor uncertainty around U.S. tariff policies and their impact on the global economy.
Oil prices were eyeing their second straight day of gains after data on stockpile builds, while the euro pulled back slightly after hitting a five-month high in the previous day’s session on hopes for a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia.
Wednesday’s U.S. Department of Labor data showed the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.8% on an annual basis in February, below the 2.9% forecast from economists polled by Reuters. On a monthly basis, it rose 0.2% after accelerating 0.5% in January and versus the 0.3% economists’ estimate.
“Today’s inflation report is obviously good news but it’s also backward looking and doesn’t tell us anything about where we’re headed from here and what the inflationary impact of all these tariffs might be,” said Jim Baird, chief investment officer at Plante Moran Financial Advisors.
Investors were left scrambling to keep up with events on Wall Street on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to double steel and aluminium tariffs on Canada to 50%, then reversed course later in the day.
“The hard part is the uncertainty around tariffs,” said Baird. “Its one thing to understand that the rules of the game are changing but understanding what those rules will be and when they’ll be clearly defined is another thing entirely.”
On Wall Street at 10:59 a.m. (1459 GMT) the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 351.23 points, or 0.84%, to 41,082.25, the S&P 500 fell 7.98 points, or 0.16%, to 5,563.75 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 74.74 points, or 0.43%, to 17,510.84.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe fell 0.08 points, or 0.01%, to 826.56.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.39%, but well below its session high.
TARIFFS TAKE EFFECT
European futures had climbed on Tuesday after Kyiv said it would accept a U.S. ceasefire proposal and the U.S. said it would restore military aid and intelligence-sharing to Ukraine.
But on Wednesday, Trump’s tariffs on all U.S. steel and aluminium imports took effect on Wednesday and the European Commission responded, saying it would impose counter-tariffs on 26 billion euros ($28.40 billion) worth U.S. goods from next month.
In Treasuries, the yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes rose 0.5 basis points to 4.293%, from 4.288% late on Tuesday.
The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, rose 1.9 basis points to 3.96%, from 3.941% late on Tuesday.
But with investor concerns mounting about recession and a global trade war, the yield spreads between corporate bonds and U.S. Treasuries widened late on Tuesday to their widest level since September.
In currencies, the euro was down 0.05% at $1.0913, while against the Japanese yen the dollar strengthened 0.36% to 148.3.
The Russian rouble reached a more than six-month high on Tuesday, but pulled back on Wednesday, weakening 1.64% against the greenback to 87.046 per dollar.
Oil prices rose 2% on Wednesday, as U.S. government data showed tighter oil and fuel inventories than expected, though investors kept an eye on mounting fears of a U.S. economic slowdown and the impact of tariffs on global economic growth.
U.S. crude rose 2.13% to $67.66 a barrel and Brent rose to $70.83 per barrel, up 1.83% on the day.
In precious metals, Spot gold rose 0.22% to $2,922.34 an ounce. U.S. gold futures fell 0.1% to $2,910.00 an ounce.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft in Paris, additional reporting by Tom Westbrook in Singapore; Editing by Alex Richardson)
