U.S. and European shares finished mixed on Wednesday ahead of more corporate earnings this week, and the yen was mired near 34-year lows, keeping traders wary of intervention from Japan. An auction of a record $70 billion worth of five-year U.S. Treasury notes on Wednesday helped to push bond yields higher, pressuring equities.
Major indexes rose on Tuesday as Tesla, Microsoft, Meta and Google parent Alphabet head into earnings. Friday's inflation report for March is on watch.
The euro area benchmark Bund yield hit its highest in almost five months on Friday as demand for safe-haven assets receded, while investors reduced their bets on European Central Bank interest rate cuts after recent robust U.S. data. Markets now see fewer than three 25 basis point (bps) ECB rate cuts in 2024. Forwards on ECB euro short-term rates (ESTR) on Friday implied 72 bps of monetary easing from 85 bps early this week.