GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks rise globally, dollar gains on yen after Japan's rate hike

BY Reuters | ECONOMIC | 12:17 PM EST

*

Wall Street indexes rise in tech-led rally

*

BOJ hikes 25 bps, signals further tightening ahead

*

Japanese bond yields jump, Dollar gains on yen,

By Sin?ad Carew and Iain Withers

NEW YORK/ LONDON Dec 19 (Reuters) - MSCI's global equities gauge was advancing on Friday with technology leading Wall Street higher while the yen weakened after the Bank of Japan raised interest rates to a three-decade high and left the door open to further tightening.

Oil prices rose as traders weighed the potential impact of supply ?disruption from Venezuela, as U.S. President Donald Trump told NBC News in an interview published on Friday he was leaving the possibility of

war with the country

on the table. The BOJ's widely expected ?rate hike led investors to sell the yen on the fact and drove some profit-taking, prompting traders to consider the chances of official ?intervention to support the currency. Japan's 10-year government bond yield hit a 26-year peak and the Nikkei ?closed up 1%.. On the U.S. data ?front, existing home sales rose marginally in November as economic uncertainty and still-elevated mortgage rates curbed demand. University of Michigan's survey of consumer sentiment came in lower than consensus estimates but ?above the November number.

"The economy may be moving out of what appears ?to have been a mild soft patch in economic growth," said Gary Schlossberg, global strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, referring to Friday's data and Thursday's

consumer price inflation

of 2.7% even as he cautioned that CPI may have been distorted by ?the 43-day government shutdown.

"We could still be feeding off the ?CPI news yesterday. It's an ?important event at face value. We're a little skeptical just how much of an improvement in inflation we saw," said Schlossberg but he added that "it looks like inflation may have peaked, at least for now. That has to be good news ?for the Fed and by extension markets."

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe

rose 7.08 points

, or

0.71

%, to

1,008.26 while t

he pan-European STOXX 600 index

rose 0.44%.

On

Wall Street

at

11:42 a.m.,

the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 280.23 points

, or

0.58

%, to

48,232.08

, the S&P 500

rose 56.22 points

, or

0.83

%, to

6,830.98

and the Nasdaq Composite

rose 256.36 points

, or

1.11

%, to

23,262.72

.

BOJ RAISES RATES, YEN SLIPS

In

currencies

, the yen weakened sharply against the dollar and other major currencies as traders drove it towards levels that could trigger official buying after the Bank of Japan raised rates to a 30-year high but did not offer clarity ?on future hikes.

Against ?the Japanese yen , the dollar

strengthened 1.22%

to

157.44

.

The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro,

rose 0.2%

to

98.64

, while the euro was

down 0.03%

at $

1.1718

.

In fixed income markets,

U.S. Treasury yields

rose in line with global bond ?yields on Friday after the Bank of Japan raised interest rates, while investors continued to evaluate delayed economic releases and the direction of Federal Reserve policy.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes rose 2.3 basis points to 4.139%, from 4.116% late on Thursday while the 30-year bond yield rose 1.8 basis points to 4.8181%.

The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, rose 2.3 basis points to 3.483%, from 3.46% late on Thursday.

In energy markets,

oil prices

rose as the market waited for news about a possible Russia-Ukraine peace deal and monitored U.S. moves regarding Venezuela while also digesting the latest central ?bank interest rate decisions around the world. U.S. crude rose 0.82% to $56.61 a barrel and Brent rose to $60.25 per barrel, up 0.72% on the day.

Gold prices rose slightly as a stronger U.S. dollar and rising Treasury yields dented demand for the non-yielding metal, though bullion was still set for a weekly gain.

Spot gold

rose 0.26%

to $

4,342.99

an ounce. U.S. gold futures

rose 0.34%

to $

4,354.40

an ounce. (Reporting ?bySin?ad Carew in New York, Iain Withers in London and Wayne Cole in Sydney; Editing by Sam Holmes, Jacqueline Wong, Tomasz Janowski amd Chizu Nomiyama)

In general the bond market is volatile, and fixed income securities carry interest rate risk. (As interest rates rise, bond prices usually fall, and vice versa. This effect is usually more pronounced for longer-term securities.) Fixed income securities also carry inflation risk and credit and default risks for both issuers and counterparties. Unlike individual bonds, most bond funds do not have a maturity date, so avoiding losses caused by price volatility by holding them until maturity is not possible.

Lower-quality debt securities generally offer higher yields, but also involve greater risk of default or price changes due to potential changes in the credit quality of the issuer. Any fixed income security sold or redeemed prior to maturity may be subject to loss.

Before investing, consider the funds' investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. Contact Fidelity for a prospectus or, if available, a summary prospectus containing this information. Read it carefully.

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