U.S. stocks seesawed as investors tried to interpret the surprise spike in jobless claims and President Joe Biden’s proposed budget. The S&P 500 was little changed, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 was up 0.4% by midday in New York. Meanwhile, the yield on 10-year Treasuries declined three basis points to 3.96%.
Crude price fell 0.2%, while gold prices increased 0.8%. Bitcoin tanked 2.3% to trade around the $21,500 level.
Both Indian benchmark indices—Sensex and Nifty—declined almost 1%, registering their worst fall in more than two weeks amid fears of faster rate hikes.
The Indian rupee closed higher against the U.S. dollar as investors waited for U.S. jobs data to forecast the direction the Federal Reserve will take with its rate hikes, and its subsequent impact on the greenback.
