NEW YORK :Global stocks were slightly higher on Tuesday, after a sharp rally in the prior session on hopes U.S. President Donald Trump would take a more measured approach on tariffs than feared, while the dollar eased from a three-week high.
European shares led the gains, while stocks on Wall Street were modestly higher after strong gains in the prior session after Trump indicated that not all of his threatened levies would be imposed on April 2 and some countries may get breaks.
U.S. stocks pared some gains after a reading on consumer confidence from the Conference Board fell 7.2 points to 92.9 in March, below the 94.0 estimate, the latest in a string of sentiment readings that have shown cooling.
“Confidence and sentiment continue to wane, this likely reflects the political divide in America,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.
“Consumers will likely still do what they do best, consume. There are some people trying to stock up on goods ahead of possible tariffs, but they’re likely in the vocal and visible minority.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 39.07 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 42,622.39, the S&P 500 rose 13.66 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 5,781.23 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 54.78 points, or 0.30 per cent, to 18,243.37.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe rose 2.45 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 854.18 while the pan-European STOXX 600 index climbed 0.72 per cent, buoyed by a survey from the Ifo institute that showed German business morale rose in March.
Stocks have shown signs of bottoming in recent days, after coming under pressure due to uncertainty over the tariff outlook and the potential to slow the global economy and dent corporate profits.
The dollar index, which has strengthened on the tariff expectations and which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, fell 0.17 per cent to 104.12 after climbing to a three-week high of 104.46.
The euro was up 0.05 per cent at $1.0805.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar weakened 0.6 per cent to 149.79 while sterling strengthened 0.15 per cent to $1.2938.
U.S. Treasury yields were slightly lower as investors also assessed the impact tariffs could have on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy.
Fed Governor Adriana Kugler said the central bank’s current policy remains restrictive and well-positioned, but progress towards the 2 per cent inflation goal has slowed and the latest move higher in goods inflation data is “unhelpful.”
Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said firms and households are “experiencing heightened uncertainty” about what lies ahead for the economy.
The comments come after Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic said on Monday he only sees one cut of 25 basis points from the Fed this year.
The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 0.4 basis points to 4.327 per cent.
Crude prices were up for a fifth straight session on the possibility global supply may decrease after Trump on Monday announced tariffs on countries that buy Venezuelan crude, although gains were capped on the likelihood that OPEC+ would go ahead with plans to hike output in May.
U.S. crude rose 0.42 per cent to $69.41 a barrel and Brent rose to $73.35 per barrel, up 0.48 per cent on the day.