The stronger dollar and rising yields, along with expectations of a strong recovery, sapped demand for safe-haven bullion and pushed gold prices lower. — Reuters picNEW YORK, March 31 ― The dollar rose and a gauge of global equity markets slipped yesterday as rising US Treasury yields dampened the appeal of big US tech stocks and led investors on both sides of the Atlantic to shares that stand to benefit as economies re-open.
Microsoft Corp, Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Facebook Inc led the S&P lower, while Tesla Inc, JPMorgan & Co, Bank of America and Wells Fargo & Co were the top advancing stocks. While the major US equity indexes fell, advancing shares outnumbered declining issues by more than 1.4:1, a sign of the impact big tech has on Wall Street and MSCI's benchmark for global equity markets.
The dollar climbed to a one-year high against the yen and rose against major currencies on the increasing distribution of US vaccines and President Joe Biden's plans to spend up to US$4 trillion on infrastructure.