Treasuries rise, Dollar drops before Fed; Apple drags stocks

BLOOMBERG

Treasuries rose, sending 10-year yields lower for the first time in eight days, and the dollar weakened, as markets signaled caution before the Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate decision. The Nasdaq 100 Index slumped as Apple Inc. tumbled after posting its first quarterly-revenue drop in more than a decade.
Benchmark 10-year note yields retreated from the highest level in a month, while the dollar slipped a third day. U.S. stocks retreated as Apple’s earnings added to the gloom around the current reporting season for technology companies.
Total SA led European energy stocks higher on a better-than-expected report. Australia’s dollar weakened versus all 31 major peers. Crude oil rose above $45 a barrel for the first time since
November.
Attention is turning to central-bank policy decisions, with investors prepared to scrutinize the Fed’s statement for any hints of a move on interest rates in coming meetings.
The Bank of Japan meets Thursday and may ease. The world’s three most valuable companies — Apple, Alphabet Inc. and Microsoft Corp. — have all released disappointing results in the past week, weighing on investor sentiment amid ongoing concern that global growth is slowing.
“With both the Fed and more importantly the BOJ on tap tonight, a lot of people have been sitting on their hands,” said Dave Lutz, the Annapolis, Maryland-based head of exchange-traded funds trading for JonesTrading Institutional Services.
“Crude is starting to catch some people wrong-footed because a lot of people were anticipating crude to be breaking back into the 30s and it seems to be going in the opposite direction.” Bonds
Treasuries rose, snapping a seven-day losing streak that was the longest in almost three years. The 10-year yield fell two basis points to 1.89 percent at 9:31 a.m. in New York.
Australia’s government bonds reversed losses after a surprise drop in consumer prices. The 10-year yield dropped four basis points to 2.62 percent, having been around 2.70 percent prior to the data.
Greek government bonds slid, pushing the yield on shorter-dated notes up by the most in more than three weeks, as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras sought a meeting of euro-area leaders to resolve disagreements between the government and creditors. The yield on Greece’s July 2017 securities increased 124 basis points to 10.70 percent, the biggest jump since April 4.

Stocks
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.1 percent. The gauge has been mired near 2,090 since rising within 1 percent of its all-time high on April 20.
The Nasdaq 100 slumped 0.8 percent as Apple sank the most since January amid waning demand for the iPhone.
Twitter Inc. tumbled after forecasting current-quarter revenue that will fall short of analysts’ estimates. Facebook Inc. and PayPal Holdings Inc. are among companies reporting earnings after the close of markets on Wednesday.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.3 percent, reversing losses of as much as 0.4 percent, amid mixed earnings. Barclays Plc climbed 0.4 percent. The lender had risen as much as 4.6 percent as revenue at the investment bank fell less than expected.
Adidas AG jumped 8.6 percent to a record after raising its annual profit forecast as consumers spend more before this year’s 2016 UEFA European Championship.
Total SA added 2.2 percent after posting a smaller-than-projected drop in quarterly earnings, and Statoil ASA, Norway’s largest oil company, climbed 4.2 percent after reporting a surprise profit.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.8 percent. Apple supplier Murata Manufacturing Co. fell 4.4 percent in Tokyo, where Nomura Holdings Inc. posted a loss for the first time in more than four years after the close of trading.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index swung between gains and losses as declines in technology and consumer stocks offset gains in energy shares.

Currencies
The dollar weakened for a third day against the euro before the Fed announces its latest monetary policy decision. The greenback depreciated 0.1 percent to $1.1311 per euro. It had declined 0.7 percent in the past two days.
Australia’s dollar slid 2 percent versus its U.S. counterpart after a report showed consumer prices fell 0.2 percent in the first quarter from the previous three months. The New Zealand dollar fell for the first time in three days before the country’s central bank meets on Thursday.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index added 0.1 percent. South Korea’s won climbed for the first time in four days, adding 0.2 percent, as a gauge of consumer confidence improved in April.

Commodities
West Texas Intermediate crude rose as much as 2.6 percent to $45.18 a barrel, building on Tuesday’s 3.3 percent jump.
The World Bank boosted its forecast for oil prices this year. U.S. inventories dropped by 1.07 million barrels last week, the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute was said to report, before the government releases stockpiles data on Wednesday.
Copper fell 0.3 percent to $4,945.50 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange, retreating for a third day in the longest run in three weeks.
Tin declined, while other industrial metals were little changed. Silver rose 1.1 percent, trading near the highest in 11 months after entering a bull market last week.
Iron ore for September delivery fell 3.6 percent to 434.5 yuan or $66.92 a metric ton on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, declining for a fourth day as China’s commodity futures exchanges stepped up efforts to curb speculation in trading in everything from steel to iron ore and coking coal after a credit-fueled binge helped send prices soaring.