NEW YORK, May 16 — US stocks slouched to a higher close yesterday, and benchmark Treasury yields rose amid flickering optimism that Washington will get past partisan wrangling and reach a debt ceiling deal.

While all three major US stock indexes ended green, market participants appeared to show little conviction as first-quarter earnings season winds down, leaving few market-moving catalysts, aside from a disappointing Empire State manufacturing report from the New York Federal Reserve.

Surging semiconductor shares .SOX boosted the tech-heavy Nasdaq to a solid advance.

Investors had little to focus on, aside from negotiations between President Joe Biden and House Republicans just weeks before the US government could default on its debts.

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“It feels like there’s some optimism regarding talks on the debt ceiling,” said Joseph Sroka, chief investment officer at NovaPoint in Atlanta. “Part of that may be political gamesmanship, but it’s helping the market a little bit today.”

“You have a split government and those tend to be more ‘stand-off’ negotiations,” Sroka added. “It’s getting hyped up a little more than usual.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 47.98 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 33,348.6, the S&P 500 gained 12.2 points, or 0.30 per cent, to 4,136.28 and the Nasdaq Composite added 80.47 points, or 0.66 per cent, to 12,365.21.

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European stocks ended the session higher as investors eyed ongoing US debt ceiling negotiations and Turkiye’s impending election runoff.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.25 per cent and MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.41 per cent.

Emerging market stocks rose 0.54 per cent. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.84 per cent higher, while Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.81 per cent.

US Treasury yields rose due to lingering worries over slow-cooling inflation even after Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said he would vote to hold interest rates steady if the Fed’s monetary policy meeting were held today.

Benchmark 10-year notes last fell 9/32 in price to yield 3.4962 per cent, from 3.463 per cent late on Friday.

The 30-year bond last fell 35/32 in price to yield 3.8392 per cent, from 3.777 per cent late on Friday.

The greenback backed down against a basket of world currencies after touching a five-week high, consolidating gains amid debt limit talks.

The dollar index fell 0.25 per cent, with the euro up 0.23 per cent to US$1.0873 (RM4.89).

The Japanese yen weakened 0.23 per cent versus the greenback at 136.05 per dollar, while Sterling was last trading at US$1.253, up 0.59 per cent on the day.

Oil prices rose, reversing three consecutive sessions of declines as concerns over tightening supplies were exacerbated by wildfires in Alberta, Canada.

US crude rose 1.53 per cent to settle at US$71.11 per barrel, while Brent settled at US$75.23 per barrel, up 1.43 per cent on the day.

Gold edged higher in opposition to the weakening dollar as the ongoing debt ceiling standoff stoked fears of a global economic slowdown.

Spot gold added 0.2 per cent to US$2,015.73 an ounce. — Reuters