US stock indexes stay stuck; dollar rises
Associated Press
NEW YORK
The stock market hasn’t been this boring in years.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 remained at a near standstill Wednesday, the ninth day in a row that it has failed to move by even 0.4 percent, up or down. That’s its longest streak of listlessness since the summer of 2013. Other indexes were mixed.
Stocks have been in a wait-and-see period in recent weeks following their torrid run since Election Day.
Treasury yields rose sharply. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note climbed to 2.42 percent from 2.33 percent late Tuesday.
The “Beige Book,” a survey of conditions by the Federal Reserve released Wednesday afternoon, showed that the U.S. economy grew a bit faster at the end of last year and that pricing pressures “intensified somewhat” since its last report in November.
The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates twice in the last two years, up from their record low of nearly zero. The central bank has said that it plans for a gradual rise in rates.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen said in a speech on Wednesday that officials expect to raise rates “a few times a year” through 2019. But a big push higher in inflation could force the Fed’s hand.
The dollar rose against many of its rivals.