A gauge of global stock markets edged lower and the dollar built on earlier gains on Wednesday after U.S. consumer inflation surged to its highest since 1990, raising concern the Federal Reserve will tighten monetary policy sooner than expected.
Real yields on U.S. Treasuries slid to record lows and gold prices reversed course to rise more than 1% as another jump in the consumer price index in October bolstered the metal's appeal as a hedge against inflation.
CPI jumped 0.9% after climbing 0.4% in September, the Labor Department said, as the largest gain in four months boosted the index's annual increase to 6.2%. It was the biggest year-on-year rise since November 1990 and followed a 5.4% leap in September.
The U.S. consumer price index rose 0.9% in October after gaining 0.4% in September, accelerating 6.2% in the 12 months through October, the largest year-on-year advance since November 1990. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the overall CPI rising by 0.6% and the core CPI by 0.4%.
"It's clear that the rate of inflation and the persistence of elevated inflation are much more than what policymakers and markets had expected," said Joseph LaVorgna, chief economist for the Americas at Natixis in New York.
Paul Nolte, portfolio manager, Kingsview Asset Management in Chicago, said the Fed is now behind the curve. "They may now be forced into raising rates sooner rather than later," he said.
MSCI's all-country world index slid 0.21% while but the broad pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 0.28%.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.11%, the S&P 500 eased 0.15% and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.44%.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback versus a basket of six currencies, rose 0.605% to 94.577.
The euro fell 0.66% at $1.1515, while the yen traded up 0.91% at $113.8800.
The yield on 10-year Treasury Inflation Protected Securities dipped as low as -1.243% and the yield on 30-year slid as low as -0.607%, both records, in morning trading.
The 10-year TIPS breakeven rate was last at 2.72%, indicating the market sees inflation averaging about 2.7% a year for the next decade.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose 6.6 basis points to 1.5153% after touching a six-week low of 1.4150% on Tuesday.
Euro zone bond yields also ticked up, with Germany's 10-year yield, the benchmark for the bloc, up 3.4 basis points at -0.259%, above a seven-week low of -0.299% touched on Tuesday. [GVD/EUR]
Oil prices edged lower after U.S. crude stocks rose modestly, a day after an industry report suggested inventories had tightened.
Brent crude fell $0.22 to $84.56 a barrel. U.S. crude lost $0.44 to trade at $83.71 a barrel.
Brent crude futures were at $84.41 a barrel at 10:49 a.m. EST (1549 GMT), down 37 cents. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell by 79 cents, or 0.9%, to $83.36.
Spot gold gained 1.1% to $1,851.00 per ounce
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