While you were sleeping: Bond fund manager warns of US market risk
UPDATED Despite warning, Wall St responds to written statement by former FBI director James Comey.
UPDATED Despite warning, Wall St responds to written statement by former FBI director James Comey.
Wall Street gained, while oil prices fell on a government report showing a buildup in US crude stockpiles.
Wall Street moved higher as investors felt reassured by former FBI Director James Comey's written statement for the record, released before he appears before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on Capitol Hill on Thursday.
"They were hoping that there wasn't going to be anything in there that was more inflammatory," Peter Costa, president of trading firm Empire Executions, told Reuters.
"The testimony wasn't as disastrous as it could have been," Costa said of the prepared remarks, adding that the market was relieved no damaging details emerged and his testimony "more than likely isn't going to blow up into some big fiasco, another thing that the president has to deal with."
At the close of trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 37.46 points, or 0.18%, to 21,173.69. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.36% to 6297.38 and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index advanced 0.16% to 2433.14.
The Dow moved higher as gains in shares of Nike and those of American Express, both up 1.5%, outweighed slides in shares of Caterpillar and those of General Electric, down 1.2% and 0.9% respectively.
Gross warns of high risk
Meanwhile, Bill Gross, manager of the $US2 billion Janus Henderson Global Unconstrained Bond Fund, said US markets were at their highest risk levels since before the 2008 financial crisis because investors were paying a high price for the chances they're taking, Bloomberg reported.
"Instead of buying low and selling high, you're buying high and crossing your fingers," he told the Bloomberg Invest New York summit.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note rose to 2.180% from 2.147% on Tuesday, which was its lowest settlement since November 10.
Oil prices dropped, sliding more than 4% after an Energy Information Administration report showed US crude inventories unexpectedly rose last week and fuelled concern about the global glut.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil for July delivery slumped 5.1% to $US45.72 a barrel in New York.
"This is really unexpected," Gene McGillian, market research manager at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut, told Bloomberg.
"It really looks as if fears of oversupply is what's driving the market."
In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index finished the day with a 0.1% decline from the previous close. France's CAC40 Index also slipped 0.1%, as did Germany's DAX Index.
The UK's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.6% ahead of the general election on Thursday, without guarantees Prime Minister Theresa May will secure another majority.
"If the Conservative party extends its majority, markets will be pretty calm, but anything less than that is going to have people worried about how we approach the Brexit negotiation," Luke Hickmore, senior investment manager at Aberdeen Asset Management, told Reuters.
(BusinessDesk)