U.S. dollar, yields firm; oil comes off two-month highs

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. dollar gained for a third straight session against a basket of currencies and U.S. Treasury yields rose on Monday as investors sought to zero in on the path of interest rates, while oil prices pulled back from two-month highs.

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe shed 0.11 percent, but remained near two-month highs, as the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 equity index opened little changed.

Investors were parsing the significance for financial markets from Friday’s strong jobs report, which came on the heels of the Federal Reserve saying it would be patient on future rate hikes, amid a cloudy outlook for the U.S. economy.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose 0.25 percent, while benchmark U.S. 10-year notes last fell 11/32 in price to yield 2.7307 percent, from 2.691 percent late on Friday.

“People are still trying to figure out between what the Fed said last week and what the data said last week, what the path for U.S. rates is going forward,” said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Baird in Milwaukee.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 52.58 points, or 0.21 percent, to 25,011.31, the S&P 500 lost 0.31 points, or 0.01 percent, to 2,706.22 and the Nasdaq Composite added 45.07 points, or 0.62 percent, to 7,308.94.

Technology was the biggest riser among the S&P 500 sectors, as a busy fourth-quarter earnings season was set to continue later on Monday with the report due from Google parent Alphabet.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index lost 0.21 percent, as Germany’s DAX index fell 0.4 percent.

European investors were also grappling with concerns about the euro zone economy and about Britain’s plan to leave the European Union.

The euro was down 0.2 percent to $1.1431 against the dollar.

Improved risk appetite helped lift the dollar to a five-week high against the safe-haven yen.

Oil prices fell on uncertainty about prospects for the global economy, retreating after benchmark Brent crude hit a two-month high near $64 a barrel as OPEC-led supply cuts and U.S. sanctions against Venezuela’s oil exports brightened the supply outlook.

“Oil prices have lacked direction in today’s trading session because of mixed market cues,” said Abhishek Kumar, senior energy analyst at Interfax Energy in London.

U.S. crude fell 2.64 percent to $53.80 per barrel and Brent was last at $61.82, down 1.48 percent on the day.