* Dow, S&P 500 end higher; Nasdaq falls
* Dollar eases from 2-week high
* U.S. Treasury yields dip
(New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments
to U.S. markets close)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, May 5 (Reuters) - Stock indexes mostly rose
globally on Wednesday, although the Nasdaq ended lower for the
second day, while the U.S. dollar eased off its highest in more
than two weeks.
The Dow hit a record high and the S&P 500 ended up slightly,
supported by gains in energy and other economically sensitive
sectors including materials .SPLRCM and financials .SPSY .
The S&P 500 energy index .SPNY ended up 3.3%. Investors were positioning themselves ahead of Friday's U.S.
monthly jobs report, expected to show that nonfarm payrolls
increased by 978,000 jobs last month.
Tony Rodriguez, head of fixed income strategy at Nuveen,
said it was possible Treasuries could move if the data varies
much from forecasts.
"It would have to be closer to 1.2 million (in jobs gains)
to have the market really feel like growth is accelerating at a
pace that's a little above what people expected coming into
this," Rodriguez said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 97.31 points,
or 0.29%, to 34,230.34, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 2.93 points,
or 0.07%, to 4,167.59 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
51.08 points, or 0.37%, to 13,582.43.
The Nasdaq's move followed sharp declines on Tuesday, when
technology-related shares added to losses after U.S. Treasury
Secretary Janet Yellen said rate hikes may be needed to stop the
economy from overheating. Yellen later said she was not
"predicting or recommending" a near-term rate hike.
On Wednesday, Peloton Interactive Inc PTON.O shares fell
14.6% on its announcement to recall its treadmills amid reports
of multiple injuries and the death of a child in an accident.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index .STOXX rose 1.82% and
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS gained
0.29%.
Upbeat earnings and business activity in Europe boosted
stock prices there. Data showed euro zone business activity
quickened last month, while the services industry returned to
growth. India's Nifty 50 .NSEI was 0.8% higher as the central bank
rolled out measures to support the coronavirus-ravaged economy.
The dollar was near flat following softer-than-expected U.S.
economic data. U.S. private payrolls rose by the
most in seven months in April, ADP data showed, as companies
boosted production to meet a surge in demand amid massive
government spending and rising vaccinations. But the 742,000
private jobs created fell short of the 800,000 jobs expected by
economists in a Reuters poll. A separate report showed services industry activity eased in
April from a record level in March, likely due to shortages of
inputs as demand surged, data from the Institute for Supply
Management showed.
The dollar index =USD fell 0.007%, with the euro EUR=
down 0.07% to $1.2004.
In the U.S. Treasury market, yields drifted lower as
inflation expectations leaped to multi-year highs even as Fed
officials downplayed the risk of a big rise in inflation.
The benchmark 10-year yield US10YT=RR was last down 1
basis point at 1.5819%, holding below a 14-month high of 1.776%
reached on March 30.
Oil ended little changed after two days of gains despite a
sharp drawdown in U.S. crude stocks. Brent crude LCOc1 rose 8
cents to settle at $68.96 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas
Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 eased 6 cents to settle at
$65.63. Spot gold XAU= added 0.5% to $1,787.57 an ounce. U.S. gold
futures GCc1 gained 0.29% to $1,784.10 an ounce.
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