US equities’ losses deepened as the breakeven rates for US Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, or TIPS, scaled multi-year highs, underscoring rising inflation expectations. — Reuters picNEW YORK, May 11 — US stocks fell yesterday and the Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped back from a record high, as worries about accelerating inflation dragged on shares and hobbled the dollar, which struggled at a 10-week low.
The stocks pullback was mirrored by a broad retreat in riskier assets such as oil and copper, as some investors grew nervous after recent hefty gains. “We see a high bar for the Fed to change its policy stance,” Jean Boivin, head of BlackRock Investment Institute, said, noting a “disconnect” between the market’s pricing for rates to rise as early as next year, and the Fed’s rate projection.Speculation that growing price pressure would erode the dollar’s value kept the US currency near a 2-1/2-month low. By late Monday, the dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, had pared losses to stand at 90.302.
Five-year TIPS rose to 2.72 per cent, its highest since April 2011, following Friday’s 2.681 per cent. Brent crude was little changed at US$68.31 per barrel and US crude was also largely flat at US$64.91 a barrel.