Stocks flat to higher as key US earnings awaited; Treasury yields up

NEW YORK -Global stock indexes were flat to mostly higher on Tuesday as investors braced for earnings later this week from leading U.S. technology-related names, while Treasury yields hit multi-month highs with the U.S. presidential election just a week away.

Results from Alphabet are due after the closing bell, while Meta Platforms and Microsoft are expected to report on Wednesday, followed by Apple and Amazon on Thursday.

Stocks have seen strong gains this year, partly due to optimism over technology companies and artificial intelligence.

The key Nov. 5 U.S. election has entered its final stretch, with opinion polls still too close to call a winner in the race between Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, and former Republican president Donald Trump.

“It wouldn’t be a surprise to see further de-risking in the short-term, and some turbulent trade for now, ahead of Election Day next Tuesday,” said Michael Brown, a senior research strategist at Pepperstone.

The U.S. Labor Department’s JOLTS survey showed job openings were at 7.44 million in September, compared with estimates of 8 million, according to a Reuters poll of economists. Investors are keen to see Friday’s U.S. jobs report for October.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 28.57 points, or 0.07%, to 42,358.60, while the S&P 500 rose 8.25 points, or 0.14%, to 5,831.77 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 82.29 points, or 0.44%, to 18,649.48.

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe rose 0.05 points, or 0.01%, to 847.98. The STOXX 600 index fell 0.49%.

U.S. benchmark 10-year yields were last up 2.2 basis points at 4.3%, after earlier hitting a nearly four-week peak of 4.337%.

The yen found its footing following Monday’s dip to a three-month low as the coalition government’s drubbing in Japan in weekend elections clouded the outlook for Japanese fiscal and monetary policies.

The dollar was last up 0.1% on the day at 153.365 yen. The BOJ announces its monetary policy decision on Thursday, and is widely expected to leave rates unchanged.

A period of wrangling to secure a coalition in Japan is likely after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner Komeito lost their majority in parliament, in a scathing result that potentially means bigger fiscal spending and complicates the Bank of Japan’s push to normalise interest rates.

The head of the opposition Democratic Party for the People said on Tuesday that the central bank should avoid making big changes in its ultra-loose monetary policy because real wage growth remains at a standstill.

Also in the foreign exchange market, the dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose 0.2% to 104.47, while the euro was down 0.18% at $1.0792.

U.S. crude fell 0.62% to $66.96 a barrel and Brent fell to $70.95 per barrel, down 0.66% on the day.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.