WASHINGTON: US stocks pushed to fresh records as technology shares continued their torrid start to the year. The dollar gained with Treasury yields as bets increased for a hike in US borrowing costs next month. That took the shine off a bounce in commodities.The SandP 500 Index climbed past 2,400, with tech companies driving gains this year to 17 per cent. Bloomberg’s Dollar Spot Index showed the greenback at its highest in almost a month in the wake of a hawkish speech on Monday by Fed official Loretta Mester. Treasuries were steady. Oil slipped toward $46 a barrel on glut concerns. Still, basic resources shares were the biggest winners as the Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced.
Calm blanketed financial markets, with measures of equity and fixed-income volatility at multiyear lows after the dissipation of concerns over European populism in the wake of the French election. Impending central bank meetings, a potential unwind of the Federal Reserve balance sheet and more scheduled elections have so far failed to dent optimism.“Does the lack of fear reflect an exhausted, tired market that believes zero volatility is normal, or is it an example of enormous complacency?” Bill Blain, a strategist at Mint Partners in London, asked in a note to clients.
