PrintGLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks edge higher, dollar dips with potential yen intervention in focus
BY Reuters | TREASURY | 01/23/26 12:07 PM EST*
Global stocks flat as Greenland tensions ease
*
Oil gains on Trump threats on Iran
*
Potential for yen intervention in focus
*
U.S. Treasury yields dip
(Updates ahead of US markets open)
By Sin?ad Carew and Iain Withers
NEW YORK/LONDON Jan 23 (Reuters) - MSCI's global equities index was rising modestly on Friday and benchmark U.S. Treasury yields edged down while the yen gained against the dollar as traders bet that Japanese authorities are close to intervening directly to support the currency.
The yen suddenly swung from a loss to a gain versus the dollar, suggesting to traders that ?Japan may have run rate checks with banks - often a signal of readiness to intervene.
Earlier in the day the Bank of Japan signaled its readiness to continue raising still-low borrowing costs in a politically-charged atmosphere, ahead ?of a snap election next month.
After two days of gains, Wall Street equities were making little progress, suggesting a muted ending for a week punctuated by ?a sell-off then a relief rally linked to U.S. President Donald Trump's withdrawal of tariff threats and ruling out seizing ?Greenland by force.
With a busy week ?ahead, including a Federal Reserve meeting, key economic releases and earnings reports, Gene Goldman, Chief Investment Officer at Cetera Investment Management in El Segundo, California said that investors were taking a breath and "in a wait-and-see approach."
"There's ?really no big drivers today and markets really benefited the last couple of days ?from easing geopolitical risks," he said. "Stocks are taking a breather because of anticipation of a really big week."
Fed funds futures are pricing an implied 97% probability that the U.S. Federal Reserve will hold rates steady next week, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool.
With ?disappointing forecasts weighing on
Intel
shares after its quarterly update late on
Thursday, investors were ?waiting for reports from ?Microsoft
, Meta Platforms
While global stocks have clawed back much of the ground lost in Tuesday's sell-off, investors are still waiting for details of a deal being negotiated between the U.S. and European leaders regarding Greenland. As a ?result some big Northern European investors are increasingly wary of the risks of holding U.S. assets.
Investors are also watching for any signs of progress from U.S.-brokered trilateral talks over Ukraine, with its President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy saying on Friday that the vital question of territory in Ukraine's war with Russia would be discussed in Abu Dhabi on Friday and Saturday.
On Wall Street at 11:33 a.m. (1633 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 286.46 points, or 0.57%, to 49,100.07, the S&P 500 rose 5.37 points, or 0.08%, to 6,918.72 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 99.59 points, or 0.43%, to 23,535.61.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe
rose 1.93 points
, or
0.19
%, to
1,037.96
.
The ?pan-European STOXX 600 ?index fell 0.21%.
In currencies, the yen was volatile with a sudden spike earlier on speculation of a potential intervention, while the dollar edged lower and was set for its steepest weekly decline since June.
The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the ?yen and the euro,
fell 0.25%
to 98.06.
With the euro
up 0.1%
at $1.1766, the dollar
weakened 0.47%
a
gainst the Japanese yen to
157.65
. Sterling
strengthened 0.59%
to $
1.3577
.
Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said on Friday she was watching currency markets closely, but declined to comment on the speculation.
In Treasuries, the yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes
fell 0.6 basis points to
4.245
%, down from
4.251
% late on
Thursday, while t
he 30-year bond yield
fell 0.6 basis points to
4.8427
%.
The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve,
fell 1.2 basis points to
3.603
%, from
3.614
% late on
Thursday
.
In energy markets, oil prices
rebounded
after Trump renewed threats against Iran, raising concerns of military action that could disrupt crude supplies while there are outages in Kazakhstan.
U.S. crude
rose 2.81% to
$
61.03
a barrel and Brent
rose ?to
$
65.82
per barrel,
up 2.75%
on the day.
In precious metals markets, silver and gold
set new records
with silver prices rising above $100 an ounce for the first time and gold hitting another record and en-route to $5,000/oz as investors continued to pile into safe haven assets amid geopolitical turmoil.
Spot gold
rose 0.94%
to $
4,983.11
an ounce. U.S. gold futures
rose 0.55%
to $
4,936.00
an ounce.
Elsewhere in metals, copper
rose 3.08%
to $
13,148.50
a tonne. Three-month aluminum on the London Metal Exchange
rose 1.1%
to $
3,167.50
a ?tonne. (Reporting by Sin?ad Carew in New York, Iain Withers in London and Gregor Stuart Hunter in Singapore, additional reporting by Naomi Rovnick; Editing by Jane Merriman, Kirsten Donovan sinead.carew@thomsonreuters.com)
