US blue chips advanced for a third session on Friday – but only barely – as investors waited for key data and central banker comments to give more direction on the future path for interest rates.
The benchmark S&P 500 posted a gain of 0.1 percent, having risen nearly 1 percent during the day, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.1 percent after rising 1.2 percent.
Investors have in recent weeks been forced to readjust their forecasts for interest rates and economic growth in the US and Europe after a succession of data in February showed a series of aggressive rate hikes yet to fully tame inflation.
The yield on two-year Treasuries, which is more sensitive to changes in interest rates, rose 0.03 percentage points to 4.89 percent, but was held below the 15-plus year peak near 4.95 percent last week.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose 0.02 percentage points at 3.98 percent, having reached 4 percent, a three-month high, last week.
The move comes ahead of US Federal Reserve chairman Jay Powell’s semi-annual testimony to Congress over the next two days and the latest non-farm payrolls report on Friday, which could lead to a dramatic weekend.
“Extended labor market tightness could lead to persistent core inflation and Fed stimulus to keep rates on hold for longer,” analysts at BlackRock said in an investment outlook note. “We are also watching China’s trade data to see how much pressure remains on exports.”
European shares closed mixed although worries about China’s growth weighed on commodity prices and dragged the FTSE 100 lower.
London’s blue-chip index fell 0.2 percent. Miners Anglo American and Rio Tinto lost 3.7 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively.
Europe’s benchmark Stoxx 600 gave up early gains to finish flat but some individual markets fared better, with Germany’s Dax up 0.5 percent and France’s CAC 40 ending 0.3 percent higher.
European stocks edged lower on the release of Eurozone retail sales data. Monthly growth was 0.3 percent in January. While the improvement from the fall in December 1.7 percent, it is below the forecast for 1.3 percent rise.
“We had a better-than-expected survey, but the retail sales data was the most difficult data,” said Jack Allen-Reynolds, deputy chief economist for the eurozone at Capital Economics.
Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, will speak at a World Trade Organization event on Wednesday.
The yield on 10-year German Bunds rose 0.01 percentage point to 2.73 percent.
The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six peer currencies, fell 0.2 percent.
Brent crude rose 0.6 percent to $86.32 a barrel, while WTI, the US equivalent, rose 08 percent to $80.60 a barrel.