Global stocks, dollar edge higher; focus turns to Fed, BOJ

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK (Reuters) - World stock indexes and the dollar edged up on Tuesday as investors awaited the outcomes of Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan policy meetings that will conclude on Wednesday.

Investor expectations are low that the Fed will raise U.S. short-term interest rates, but investors will listen closely to Chair Janet Yellen's speech on Wednesday for any hint that the U.S. central bank could hike rates as soon as December.

"Investors are holding vigil before the Bank of Japan and the Federal Reserve's announcements tomorrow, and I think everything stays quiet until then," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York.

 

Nagging doubts about the firepower left available to top central banks have added to recent volatility in markets.

The yen rose 0.25 percent against the dollar to trade at 101.70 yen >. The Japanese currency has risen almost 20 percent versus the dollar over the past 12 months despite the Japanese central bank's best efforts to weaken it. The dollar index rose 0.2 percent <.DXY> to 96.003.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 31.57 points, or 0.17 percent, to 18,151.74, the S&P 500 <.SPX> had gained 3.14 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,142.26 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> had added 7.54 points, or 0.14 percent, to 5,242.56.

Wells Fargo & Co's chief executive officer told a U.S. Senate panel that customers who had bogus accounts opened in their name will be made whole and compensated for any damage to their credit rating, but some Democratic senators called for his resignation. Wells Fargo shares were last up 1.5 percent.

MSCI's all-country world stock index < .MIWD00000PUS> was up 0.1 percent, while European shares <.FTEU3> closed flat.

U.S. Treasury yields fell as traders bought longer-dated bonds on uncertainty over the outcome of the BOJ meeting.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes > were up 3/32 in price for a yield of 1.687 percent, down from Monday.

U.S. oil prices were up in see-saw trading as investors assessed OPEC comments that a possible production freeze agreement could last longer than expected.

U.S. crude futures were up 0.3 percent at $43.43 a barrel, while Brent crude oil futures were down 0.9 percent at $45.55.

(Additional reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan, Marc Jones and Jemima Kelly; Editing by John Stonestreet and James Dalgleish)