Dollar poised for further gains as traders brace for December hike

The U.S. dollar held on to its gains from the prior session on Thursday as investors embraced the notion that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates at its December meeting. The euro traded at $1.0878, just above a three-month low reached Wednesday. It was little-changed from its level late Wednesday in New York. The dollar traded at ¥121.7390, up 0.2% from ¥121.51 late Wednesday. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index, a measure of the...

Crude Futures Fall for Second Day on U.S. Supplies, Dollar

Crude fell for a second day as U.S. production remains stubbornly high. Prices dropped as much as 1.7 percent. U.S. supplies rose for a sixth week, the Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday. Prices also came under pressure as the dollar strengthened after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said a U.S. interest-rate increase remains a possibility for 2015. The stronger U.S. currency reduces the appeal of commodities as...

S&P 500 Closes Little Changed as Investors Weigh Rates, Economy

U.S. stocks closed little changed near a three-month high as the specter of an interest rate increase this year left investors looking to Friday’s jobs report for fresh signs the economy is strong enough to withstand tightening. Equities swung between gains and losses in the session as a rally in banks helped erase declines sparked by a renewed selloff in embattled drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. Weakness in commodity...

Europe Stocks Snap Three-Day Rally, Following U.S. Shares Lower

European stocks fell for the first time in four days, led by declines in commodity and energy producers. Anglo American Plc and ArcelorMittal slid 4.6 percent or more, dragging miners to the worst performance among industry groups in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Energy stocks halted a three-day advance, with Amec Foster Wheeler Plc slumping 23 percent after saying it will halve dividends amid falling oil prices. Societe Generale SA and...

U.S. Stocks Trim Decline as Banks Gain, Valeant Off Earlier Lows

U.S. stocks pared a decline as banks gained amid increased bets for higher interest rates, while Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. trimmed a drop that weighed on health-care companies. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 0.1 percent to 2,100.20 at 11:56 a.m. in New York, after earlier falling as much as 0.6 percent. Equities trimmed a weekly advance, after reaching a three-month high on Tuesday, stalling a rally that...