Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said the USA labor market is “very close to full employment” in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Tuesday, adding he couldn’t say whether the next interest rate increase would be “one and done”. The S&P 500 ended down 4.26 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 2,176.12.
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Gold fell to a six-week low on Tuesday after Federal Reserve officials sounded a hawkish note on interest rates, boosting the dollar, while attention turned to US payrolls data this week for further clues on the pace of rate hikes.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,541 to 1,114. The dollar index, which measures the currency against a basket of six majors, rose as high as to 96.143, its highest level since August 9, before falling back to 96.062, up 0.50 percent on the day. Overall trade remained subdued and rangebound. The dollar rose against the euro on Tuesday after USA consumer confidence rose to an 11-month high in August, indicating that United States economy is progressing well.
In an interview with Bloomberg TV on Tuesday, Fischer did not comment on the timing of the next Fed rate hike but said “we choose the pace on basis of data”, and that U.S. “employment is very close to full employment”.
At a speech last week in Jackson Hole, Wyo., Fed Chair Janet Yellen said the argument for a rate hike “has strengthened in recent months”. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news. Yields rise when prices fall and vice versa.
U.S. Treasury debt prices were little moved on Tuesday with investors largely holding their positions after comments from Federal Reserve Vice Chair Stanley Fischer that put a spotlight on Friday’s non-farm payrolls report.
GBP/USD is supported in the range of 1.3018 now trading at 1.3075 levels.
Most market participants said they were waiting for key readings of the labor market on the week, notably the Labor Department’s jobs report due Friday.
Friday’s jobs data will be preceded on Wednesday by the ADP National Employment Report of private-sector payrolls.
The stock was the top drag on all three major USA stock indexes.
Another bearish sign for gold: central banks, the biggest owners of the metal, cut their purchases by 40 percent in the second quarter compared with the same period a year earlier to the lowest since 2011, according to World Gold Council figures. Asked of Tokyo could intervene in the currency market to stem excessive yen rises, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday the government was ready to respond “appropriately”.Underpinning the yen, data showed Japanese household spending fell less than expected last month and the jobless rate hit a two-decade low.But with the economy barely growing and inflation sliding further away from the Bank of Japan’s 2 percent target, most economists polled by Reuters expect the bank to ease further next month. The jobs data at the end of the week will be assessed as to how it affects the prospects for tighter policy, and whether that could come as soon as the September meeting.
“Fischer’s comments this morning made me raise my odds for a September rate hike”, Marty McGuire, a managing director-market strategy at TJM Investments LLC in Chicago, said by telephone.
The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index rose to 101.1 in August, topping estimates of 97.3.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a 5.2% increase in the 20-city S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index.
Apple Inc was the largest weight on USA stock indexes on Tuesday after antitrust regulators ordered the company to pay about $14.5 billion in back taxes to the Irish government, but gains in bank shares partly offset the decline.
G-III Apparel Group Ltd.(GIII) shares tumbled nearly 21% as the company, whose brands include Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, lowered its earnings and sales outlook (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/g-iii-apparel-shares-tumble-as-earnings-miss-company-lowers-outlook-2016-08-30).
Shares of Hershey Co.(HSY) fell 11% after Mondelez International Inc.(MDLZ) said late Monday it has ended its bid to acquire (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hershey-wanted-at-least-125-a-share-from-mondelez-2016-08-29) the chocolate maker.
Shares of Agrium Inc.(AGU.T) and Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT) rallied to close up 7.7% and almost 12%, respectively, following a report that the Canadian fertilizer companies are planning a merger.
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NEW YORK – US stocks fell on Tuesday after stronger-than-expected US consumer confidence data stoked worries about a potential Federal Reserve interest rate hike this year, while European shares gained and the dollar climbed.
