Bonds & Stocks
Stocks, bonds and the dollar struggled for direction, with inflation data that only matched estimates reinforcing bets the Federal Reserve will keep rates elevated for a period to bring inflation back to its target. After falling in the immediate aftermath of the report, Treasury two-year yields reversed course and rose two basis points to 4.73%. The S&P 500 fluctuated near 4,600. The dollar trimmed most of its losses. Swap traders slightly trimmed their expectations Fed rate cuts in 2024.
Economy
US consumer prices picked up in November, reinforcing the Federal Reserve’s resolve to keep interest rates elevated in the near term. The so-called core consumer price index, which excludes food and energy costs, increased 0.3% following a 0.2% advance in October, according to government figures. From a year ago, it advanced 4% for a second month. Economists favor the core metric as a better gauge of the trend in inflation than the overall CPI. That measure ticked up slightly after being little changed in October. From a year ago, it was up 3.1%.
World
Ukraine’s largest mobile phone operator said Russia was most likely behind a “powerful” cyberattack that disrupted phone and Internet services Tuesday for about 24 million people in the country. As fighting on the frontlines continues, Ukraine said in October that such attacks by Russia were becoming more sophisticated as they aimed to disrupt vital infrastructure during wartime. The State Cyber Protection Center previously attributed the majority of such incidents of interference, which commonly tried to steal information and to disrupt or destroy systems, to hacker groups funded by the Russian government.