U.S. Stocks Gain on Tax Outlook as Treasuries Drop: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks posted record highs after John McCain backed the Senate tax bill and the biggest technology stocks rebounded from their worst selloff in more than a year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed past 24,000 after the statement of support from the Arizona Republican as the measure headed for a marathon debate, while the S&P 500 capped its longest monthly winning streak since 2007. Treasuries extended their slide, with the 10-year yield breaking above 2.4 percent. The euro and pound strengthened as Brexit negotiators moved closer to a divorce agreement.

An up-or-down vote on the Senate’s tax bill could happen before the end of this week. While McCain’s support helped bring the measure one step closer to passing, Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine said it “would be very difficult” for her to support the proposal in its current form. The party can only afford to lose two of its 52 members to pass the bill without Democratic support. Bob Corker of Tennessee, Jeff Flake of Arizona, James Lankford of Oklahoma and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin are all seen as potential “no” votes.

Data showed U.S. consumer spending settled back in October to a still-decent pace after the biggest increase since 2009, as a post-storm surge in auto sales cooled. Incomes remained robust and inflation showed progress toward the Federal Reserve’s goal. Treasuries sank, driving the benchmark 10-year yield to the highest in a month.

Oil posted its longest streak of monthly gains since early 2016 after an OPEC-led coalition of major crude producers followed through on a long-awaited extension of supply cuts.

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Here are some key events scheduled for the remainder of this week:

• Japan’s CPI may show a sharp divergence between headline and core inflation, Bloomberg Intelligence said ahead of the releases on Friday.
• In China, the private Caixin manufacturing PMI is due on Friday.

These are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The S&P 500 Index rose 0.8 percent to a record at the close in New York.
• The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.3 percent.
• The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.9 percent.
• Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average jumped 0.6 percent to the highest in three weeks.
• The MSCI Emerging Market Index dipped 1.9 percent, the most since May.

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed.
• The euro increased 0.4 percent to $1.1898.
• The British pound rose 0.9 percent to $1.3523, the strongest in more than two months.
• The Japanese yen slipped 0.6 percent to 112.6 per dollar.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose three basis points to 2.42 percent.
• Germany’s 10-year yield dipped two basis points to 0.37 percent.
• Britain’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to 1.33 percent.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate was little changed at $57.31 a barrel.
• Gold declined 0.7 percent to $1,277.20 an ounce.
• Copper rose 0.1 percent to $3.0715 a pound.

--With assistance from Eric Lam Lu Wang Adam Haigh Cormac Mullen and Cecile Vannucci

To contact the reporter on this story: Brendan Walsh in Austin at bwalsh8@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jeremy Herron at jherron8@bloomberg.net.

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