NEW YORK, March 24 — Wall Street stocks rose yesterday, pushing up global stock indexes, and Treasury yields fell, as investors took comfort that the Federal Reserve might pause its interest rate rises to offset the turmoil in financial markets.
But decisions by Switzerland’s SNB to jack up rates despite a torrid week following the takeover of Credit Suisse and by the Bank of England to hoist borrowing costs after a nasty inflation surprise were reminders not to get carried away. In Europe, news of the rate hikes in Switzerland and Britain helped push the European-wide STOXX 600 share index down 0.21 per cent. The banking sector was again a drag, with the index of top European banks down 2.53 per cent.
Germany’s hawkish European Central Bank rate setter, Joachim Nagel, on Wednesday said he thought euro zone rates were “approaching restrictive territory,” referring to a level that curtails growth. Markets are now pricing in an approximately 65 per cent chance of the Fed pausing at its next meeting, in May, and a 35 per cent chance of a 25-basis-point rise.