Stocks across the globe were little changed after touching a record high while the dollar turned higher against a basket of peers after US job openings jumped to a record high in June.
The job market data underscored the view that the Federal Reserve has ammunition to continue on its tighter monetary policy path. A strong jobs report last Friday gave the dollar index its strongest daily performance this year.
The job openings data “was much stronger than expected. This reinforces the strong non-farm (payrolls) data from last Friday, and turned the dollar higher significantly,” said Minh Trang, senior currency trader at Silicon Valley Bank in Santa Clara, California.
The dollar index rose 0.37 per cent, with the euro down 0.47 percent to $1.1737.
The Japanese yen weakened 0.03 per cent versus the greenback at 110.79 per dollar, while Sterling was last trading at $1.296, down 0.55 per cent on the day.
The view that the Fed could continue raising rates translated into a move higher in financial shares on Wall Street. Banks usually see better returns as the yield curve steepens, which it did marginally after the job openings data.
“The strength of the job market is certainly one of the two things the Fed is looking at, and the jobs data would be the primary reason for the move higher in financials,” said Peter Jankovskis, co-chief investment officer at OakBrook Investments LLC.
The data “is raising the likelihood for further rate increases.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 42.27 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 22,160.69, the S&P 500 gained 5.77 points, or 0.23 per cent, to 2,486.68 and the Nasdaq Composite added 20.11 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 6,403.88.
The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.19 per cent and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.08 per cent.
Emerging market stocks rose 0.38 per cent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.16 per cent higher, while Japan’s Nikkei lost 0.30 per cent.
Benchmark US Treasury yields were near their session high after spiking higher following the jobs data. Trading was light overall as the market gets into the thick of summer, with Japan, whose central bank is the largest non-U.S. holder of Treasuries, closed next week for holidays.
Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 9/32 in price to yield 2.2887 percent, from 2.257 per cent late on Monday. The 30-year bond last fell 24/32 in price to yield 2.8728 per cent, from 2.837 per cent late on Monday.
Oil prices were volatile on increasing exports from key Opec producers and news of lower crude shipments from Saudi Arabia.
US crude rose 0.2 per cent to $49.49 per barrel and Brent was last at $52.47, up 0.19 per cent on the day.