Stocks, dollar rise on bets for US rate hike
Dollar and US Treasury yields jump as investors bet that a US interest rate hike will come soon
New York — Wall Street indexes rallied on Wednesday, with the Dow hitting a record above 21,000 points, while the dollar and US Treasury yields jumped as investors bet that a US interest rate hike would come soon. New York Fed President William Dudley — one of the most influential US central bankers, and usually considered a dove -said late Tuesday that the case for tightening monetary policy had become "a lot more compelling", while San Francisco Fed President John Williams said he saw "no need to delay" raising rates. The comments overshadowed US President Donald Trump’s Tuesday night speech to Congress and sent US financial stocks soaring, helping the Dow Jones Industrial Average top 21,000 for the first time as banks’ profits get a boost from higher interest rates. "Williams and Dudley are very strongly signaling that fact that March is a live meeting, and that’s occurring against the backdrop of consistently strong (economic) numbers," said Richard Franulovich, a senior currenc...
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