United States stocks fall mildly on Yellen’s rate hike comments

But by delaying interest-rate hikes for months, the Federal Reserve has created uncertainty that gives businesses an excuse not to invest in capital projects, Malpass said.

While Yellen said “no decision has been made”, she made it clear the option is on the table during a House Financial Services Committee hearing Wednesday, reported Fox Business.

The chances for a December rate hike are now perceived as higher than 50 percent after Yellen laid out what appeared to be the base case that the economy is ready for higher rates. Turnover totaled US$662 million during the trading session.

To take note of, October gains came alongside an outsized 0.4% month-on-month jump in average hourly earnings, for a year-on-year gain of 2.5% (consensus: 2.3%) from the upwardly revised 2.3% advance seen in the month before. Spot gold, stronger initially, fell as much as 1.7 per cent to US$1,084.90 an ounce, its lowest since Aug 7.

The unemployment rate fell to five percent in October from 5.1 percent in the previous month.

The kiwi increased to 92.46 Australian cents from 92.17 cents yesterday after the Reserve Bank of Australia’s monetary policy statement indicated interest rates were likely to stay on hold, saying earlier easing and a weaker currency had supported growth.

A “pretty darn strong” US employment report is pretty darn bad for gold.

The USA dollar rose against the Taiwan dollar Thursday, gaining NT$0.123 to close at the day’s high of NT$32.718 as foreign investors moved funds out of the country, placing downward pressure on the local currency, dealers said.

Data on jobs and trade also helped whet dollar bulls’ appetites.

Traders were still digesting those remarks and “keeping the powder dry” in anticipation of Friday’s payrolls numbers, said Karl Schamotta, director of FX strategy and structured products at Cambridge Global Payments in Toronto.

“We’ve got two more payrolls before the Fed meets in December so it’s reasonably important”, said Imre Speizer, senior market strategist at Westpac Banking Corp in Auckland.

Domestic spending is growing “at a solid pace” and the Fed expects the economy will continue to grow fast enough to boost the labor market and begin pushing inflation toward the Fed’s 2.0-percent target, she said. Brent crude, which is used to price worldwide oils, fell 60 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $47.98 a barrel. Silver dropped 1.3 per cent to $14.76 an ounce and platinum was down 0.7 per cent at $936.60 an ounce.