Treasuries slide before Fed as Apple lifts Nasdaq

Bloomberg

Treasuries slid and the dollar pared gains as investors counted down to the latest Federal Reserve rate decision. Apple Inc’s rally buoyed the tech sector as an escalation in trade-war rhetoric weighed on equities and battered commodities.
A bond sell-off that started in Japan before spreading into Europe picked up steam in the US after the Treasury Department said it planned to raise long-term debt sales. That sent the yield on 10-year Treasuries to 3 percent for the first time since June and pushed the dollar lower. The pound and euro drifted after underwhelming economic data.
In equities, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index climbed after Apple signalled strong demand for high-end iPhones and rose to a record. Most S&P 500 members fell as investors weighed second-quarter earnings reports — nine of the index’s 11 members that reported Wednesday morning beat analysts’ profit forecasts — with China’s vow to retaliate if the US follows through on threats to increase import tariffs. Shanghai stocks finished sharply lower and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index slid.
Central banks are in focus as the Fed meets, and after the Bank of Japan tweaked its policy settings to allow bigger swings in its bond market. The Bank of England is expected to hike rates.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s unpredictability on trade has been in the spotlight in the last 24 hours after reports that talks between Washington and Beijing were set to resume were quickly overtaken by a threat to raise tariffs.
Elsewhere, emerging-markets currencies and shares were steady.
Earnings season continues with Berkshire Hathaway, Barclays, Tesla, Toyota and BMW among companies reporting results. Central banks in the US, UK and Brazil are still to meet this week. The Bank of England is expected to hike even amid Brexit gloom. The Fed is seen standing pat, as is Brazil’s central bank. The US jobs report is on Friday, and is predicted to show a healthy labor market, with 190,000 new jobs.

STOCKS
The S&P 500 Index rose 0.1 percent in New York time. The Nasdaq Composite index rose 0.4 percent. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index dipped 0.4 percent to the lowest in a week. The MSCI Emerging Market Index was little changed.

CURRENCIES
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1 percent. The euro slipped 0.1 percent to $1.1679.
The British pound was little changed at $1.3119. The Japanese yen rose 0.1 percent to 111.98 per dollar, the strongest in almost two weeks.

BONDS
The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose five basis points to 3.01 percent, the highest in 10 weeks. Germany’s 10-year yield rose five basis points to 0.49 percent, the highest in seven weeks. Britain’s 10-year yield climbed six basis points to 1.39 percent, the highest in seven weeks.

COMMODITIES
The Bloomberg Commodity Index fell 0.9 percent to the lowest in more than a week. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.4 percent to a two-week low of $67.79 a barrel. Copper dipped 2.6 percent, the most in two weeks, to $2.759 a pound Gold declined 0.4 percent to $1,219.38 an ounce.