Stocks soar as investors welcome signs of cooling inflation.

The slowdown in price gains in November provided Wall Street with a strong indication that the Federal Reserve could slow down interest rate increases.

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Ixta, Serving Mexican Food With an Eye to Tulum, Opens on the Bowery

A beachy green oasis in the seaport district, seafood-forward Mexican in Midtown East and more restaurant news.

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By Florence Fabricant

Thirty-Year Bond Auction Attracts Below Average Demand

A day after reporting mixed demand for this month’s three-year and ten-year note auctions, the Treasury Department on Tuesday revealed this month’s auction of $18 billion worth of thirty-year bonds attracted below average demand.

The thirty-year bond auction drew a high yield of 3.513 percent and a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.25.

Last month, the Treasury sold $21 billion worth of thirty-year bonds, drawing a high yield of 4.080 percent and a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.42.

The bid-to-cover ratio is a measure of demand that indicates the amount of bids for each dollar worth of securities being sold.

The ten previous thirty-year bond auctions had an average bid-to-cover ratio of 2.38.

On Monday, the Treasury announced the results of this month’s auctions of $40 billion worth of three-year notes and $32 billion worth of ten-year notes.

While the three-year note auction attracted modestly above average demand, the ten-year note auction attracted below average demand.

Gold Futures Settle Notably Higher As Dollar Slips After Soft Inflation Data

Gold futures settled notably higher on Tuesday as the dollar fell sharply after soft consumer price inflation data helped ease concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

The Labor Department’s report said the consumer price index crept up by 0.1% in November after climbing by 0.4% in October. Economists had expected consumer prices to rise by 0.3%.

The report also showed the annual rate of growth by consumer prices slowed to 7.1% in November from 7.7% in October.

The Federal Reserve, which is scheduled to announce its monetary policy on Wednesday, is still likely to raise interest rate by another 50 basis points, but the slower price growth may offset recent worries about future rate hikes.

The dollar index fell to 103.59 after the Labor Department released the inflation data. Despite recovering to 103.99, the index remains deep down in negative territory with a loss of about 1.1%.

Gold futures for February surged to a near six-month high at $1,836.80, before settling at $1,825.50 an ounce, up $33.20 or about 1.9% from the previous close.

Silver futures for March ended up $0.587 at $23.990 an ounce, while Copper futures for March settled at $3.8420 per pound, gaining $0.0415.

The Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank are set to announce their monetary policies this week.

European Economics Preview: Germany Industrial Output Data Due

Industrial production from Germany and revised quarterly national accounts from the euro area are the top economic news due on Wednesday.

At 2.00 am ET, Destatis is scheduled to issue Germany’s industrial production for October. Economists forecast output to fall 0.6 percent on month, offsetting the 0.6 percent increase in September.

In the meantime, UK Halifax house price figures are due. House prices are forecast to fall 0.2 percent on month in November, slower than the 0.4 percent decrease in October.

Also, industrial output from Norway and GDP data from Sweden are due.

At 2.45 am ET, the Bank of France releases current account figures for October. The foreign trade data is also due.

At 3.00 am ET, the Czech Statistical Office publishes industrial output and external trade data. Production is seen rising 7.2 percent annually in October after rising 8.3 percent in September.

At 4.00 am ET, Italy’s Istat is set to release retail sales data for October. Sales are expected to drop 0.6 percent on month, in contrast to the 0.5 percent rise in September.

At 5.00 am ET, Eurostat is slated to release euro area revised GDP data. The statistical office is expected to confirm 0.2 percent sequential growth for the third quarter.

Oil Futures Settle Sharply Higher

Crude oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday due to concerns about supply disruptions amid the ongoing shutdown of the Keystone pipeline following a massive leak last week.

A weak dollar also supported oil prices, as data from the Labor Department showed consumer prices in the U.S. inched up by less than expected in the month of November.

West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January ended higher by $2.22 or about 3% at $75.39 a barrel.

Brent crude futures were up $2.76 or 3.54% at $80.75 a barrel a little while ago.

The report from the Labor Department said the consumer price index edged up 0.1% in November after climbing by 0.4% in October. Economists had expected consumer prices to rise by 0.3%.

The report also showed the annual rate of growth by consumer prices slowed to 7.1% in November from 7.7% in October.

The year-over-year increase in November, which came in below expectations for a slowdown to 7.3%, reflects the slowest annual growth since December 2021.

The Chinese government’s decision to loosen some Covid-related restrictions helped ease concerns about demand for energy. According to reports, China has withdrawn a state-mandated app used to track whether people had travelled to Covid-stricken areas.

Beijing’s U.S. envoy on Monday said he expects further relaxations in the near future so that international travel to the country will become easier.