Wall Street steady, ASX set to inch higher

After charging higher through the start of this year as hopes dimmed for cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve, Treasury yields have been regressing this month to offer some relief for the stock market.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.46 per cent from 4.49 per cent late Monday. The two-year yield, which moves more closely with expectations for the Fed, held steady at 4.83 per cent.

While yields have been declining over the last week, strategists at Wells Fargo Investment Institute still expect long-term yields to remain high for a while. That’s in part because expectations are broadly for inflation to remain higher than hopes for some time. Luis Alvarado, global fixed income strategist, believes the 10-year yield will likely remain near its recent range.

Elsewhere on Wall Street, Crocs jumped 5.9 per cent after reporting better profit and revenue than expected. It benefited from strong growth internationally.

International Flavors & Fragrances, which makes ingredients used in food and perfume, gained 5.5 per cent after reporting better profit and revenue than expected. It also said it expects its revenue for the full year to come in at the higher end of its forecasted range.

Lucid Group tumbled 15.4 per cent after the electric-vehicle maker reported a worse loss for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Loading

Builders FirstSource fell 17.6 per cent despite topping forecasts for profit and revenue. The supplier of building products said a weakening multifamily market and higher mortgage rates were creating challenges, and its forecast for how much cash it will generate this year came in below some analysts’ expectations.

In stock markets abroad, indexes jumped 2.2 per cent in Seoul and 1.6 per cent in Tokyo but were mixed in the rest of Asia. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.4 per cent after the central bank decided to keep interest rates unchanged.

European stock indexes also rose.