WASHINGTON- Stock indexes around the globe traded mixed despite strong Amazon earnings, while gold prices slipped under pressure from a firmer dollar and higher US
Treasury yields as upbeat US jobs data bolstered the case for Federal Reserve rate hikes.
Earlier in the session, a sell-off in bonds briefly pushed Germany’s 5-year yield positive for the first time in four years after the European Central Bank was more hawkish than expected.
Asian equities held firm overnight after better-than-expected earnings from Amazon, in contrast to the heavy selling on Thursday following Facebook owner Meta Platforms’ earnings miss.
The STOXX 600 lost 1.42 percent and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.18 percent.
On Wall Street, US stocks were mixed. US government bond yields moved up amid the positive jobs data and better earnings.
“So much for the good news from Amazon – today’s jobs data puts 50 basis points back on the table for the Fed’s March meeting,” said John Lynch, chief investment officer for North Carolina-based Comerica Wealth Management.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.25 percent and the S&P 500 gained 0.18 percent.
The Nasdaq Composite added 0.97 percent.
Market sentiment has been dominated by speculation about the trajectory for rate hikes from major central banks this year, as pressure mounts for policy moves to combat inflation. Rate hikes typically hurt riskier assets such as stocks.
In a move labeled by analysts as a “pivot,” European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde was more hawkish than expected at the central bank’s meeting on Thursday. She acknowledged mounting inflation risks and declined to repeat her previous guidance that an interest rate increase this year was “very unlikely.”
The dollar index rose 0.091 percent, with the euro up 0.11 percent to $1.1451.
