GLOBAL MARKETS-Dollar, US stocks fall on inflation concerns
Updates after U.S. open; adds byline, New York dateline, previous dateline LONDON
By Sinéad Carew
NEW YORK April 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar index fell from 20-year highs while Wall Street equities were lower on Friday with the latest economic data Amazon.com's disappointing quarterly report and outlook keeping the spotlight on surging inflation.
In U.S. treasuries the benchmark 10-year yields capped off their biggest monthly gain since December 2009 by rising near their highest levels of the year after economic data. nL2N2WR1ER
Equities were also under pressure after data showed that monthly inflation surged by the most since 2005 while U.S. consumer spending increased more than expected in March amid strong demand for services. Also, first quarter U.S. labor costs surged by the most in 21 years, pointing to rising wage inflation, supporting Federal Reserve's policy tightening.nL2N2WQ2K0 nL2N2WQ2MI
"Core inflation was well contained, but that’s little solace for those whose real disposable incomes are falling. The Employment Cost Index rose more than expected and when you combine that with the negative GDP print, unit labor costs for Q1 will pop higher as productivity fell," said Brian Jacobsen, senior investment strategist for multi-asset solutions at Allspring Global Investments.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 389.58 points, or 1.15%, to 33,526.81, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 72.51 points, or 1.69%, to 4,214.99 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 221.95 points, or 1.72%, to 12,649.58.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 0.73% and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS shed 0.52%.
On the last trading day of April, the world stock index was on course for its biggest monthly decline since March 2020.
Amazon AMZN shares were down more than 12% after the e-commerce giant delivered a disappointing quarter and outlook late Thursday as was swamped by higher costs to run its warehouses and deliver packages to customers. nL3N2WQ4SI.
Emerging market stocks .MSCIEF were rising 2.38% however as MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS closed 2.35% higher, while Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose 1.75%.
Russia's rouble hit a two-year peak against the dollar and the euro on Friday as capital controls helped it weather another a larger-than-expected interest rate cut and Russia appeared to make a last-gasp effort to avoid a default. nL2N2WR0RD
Other emerging market currencies also rallied on the dollar retreat. nL2N2WR1BW
While the dollar slipped from 20-year highs, looking to snap a 6-day advance against a basket of currencies on Friday it was still on track for its biggest monthly gain in seven years as concerns about the global economy and a hawkish Federal Reserve bolstered demand for the greenback in April. L2N2WR1KY
The dollar index =USD fell 0.492%, with the euro EUR= up 0.48% to $1.0544. The Japanese yen strengthened 0.90% versus the greenback at 129.70 per dollar.
“The broad story is obviously we’ve seen some broad-based dollar strength,” said Vassili Serebriakov, an FX strategist at UBS in New York.
Benchmark 10-year U.S. yields US10YT=RR having risen as high 2.981% on April 20, its highest level since Dec. 2018, were on track to register five straight months of gains.
Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR last fell 7/32 in price to yield 2.8889%, up from 2.863% late on Thursday.US/
Oil prices rose for a fourth day on Friday as fears over Russian supply disruption outweighed the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns in China, the world's biggest crude importer. O/R
U.S. crude CLc1 recently rose 2.03% to $107.50 per barrel and Brent LCOc1 was at $110.30, up 2.52% on the day.
In Asia, markets had reacted positively after a top decision-making body in China's ruling Communist Party said it will take steps to support its economy, including embattled internet platforms, as risks grow from its COVID-19 outbreaks and the Russia, Ukraine war. nL2N2WR07P.
Chinese blue chips .CSI300 and Shanghai shares .SSEC had closed up 2.4%. However they lost 4.9% and 6.3% respectively for the month.
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(Reporting by Sinéad Carew, Chuck Mikolajczak, Karen Brettell in New York, Sujata Rao and Marc Jones in London; Alun John in Hong Kong; editing by Kim Coghill, Chizu Nomiyama and Louise Heavens)
((sinead.carew@thomsonreuters.com))
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