Dollar falls on US yields, stocks mixed between levels, election risks By Reuters
Written by Kevin Buckland
TOKYO (Reuters) – The dollar was on the defensive on Friday following its biggest drop in a month against its major peers, as it tracked a pullback in U.S. yields from nearly three-month highs after Treasury rates lured buyers.
Asian shares were mixed, with some markets tracking Wall Street's overnight gains, while it struggled after the yen rebounded from a three-week low against the dollar.
Hong Kong flowers while the country's green chips are flat.
However, throughout the week the dollar was set for its fourth consecutive weekly increase and sixth, driven by a series of US economic data showing a more patient approach to interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Rising bond yields hurt stock investors, leaving MSCI's global index of equities on track for a 1.2% slide this week.
is scheduled for weekly development amid growing risks of conflict in the Middle East. Safe-haven gold is headed for a third straight week of wins.
The Nikkei was down 1% as of 0154 GMT, while the Hang Seng gained 0.5%. The blue chips were flat. Taiwan's benchmark rose 0.5%.
In Japan, Sunday's election could see the ruling coalition lose its majority in parliament, with political instability likely to add further weight to the stock market there.
The show of potentially important events begins next week with the monthly US payrolls report on Friday. The US presidential election follows on November 5, with the Fed's policy decision two days later.
Earnings reports are also due for mega-cap tech names like Alphabet (NASDAQ: ), Amazon (NASDAQ: ), Apple (NASDAQ: ), Meta (NASDAQ: ), and Microsoft (NASDAQ: ).
“There is still a degree of caution in the markets, with equity performance mixed due to a combination of macroeconomic, earnings and political risk,” said Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com.
As for the economic data overnight, “the story was good and it opened the door for vulnerable people to be affected,” Rodda said.
Weekly data showed an unexpected drop in new claims for US unemployment benefits overnight.
A stronger-than-expected payrolls report for September prompted a repricing of the Fed's rate-cutting approach from earlier this month.
The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.1918% on Friday, following a four-point slide in the previous session. It hit a three-month high of 4.26% on Wednesday.
The , which measures the currency against six major peers, was little changed at 104.06 after retreating from Wednesday's three-month high of 104.57. However, for the week it increased by 0.56%.
The dollar was down at 151.835 yen, and the euro fell 0.04% to $1.082325.
The increase in the prediction of the victory of Donald Trump in some betting markets has supported the yield of the US and the dollar in recent days, thanks to the policies of the inflation tax and the tax of the Republican republic.
Gold edged lower on Friday to $2,729 an ounce, but was on course for a 0.22% gain this week.
futures rose 0.6% to $74.83 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was up 0.6% at $70.62 a barrel.
