(ADVISORY-There will be no Global Markets report from New York
on Friday, March 25 due to the Good Friday holiday)
* Another Fed official joins chorus on tightening risk
* Dollar heading for 5th day of gains, best run since April
* Drop in oil and commodities hits risk sentiment, stocks
(Adds open of U.S. markets, changes byline, dateline; previous
LONDON)
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, March 24 (Reuters) - Global equity markets and
commodities were under pressure on Thursday as the dollar
continued its recent string of gains and yet another Federal
Reserve official talked up the chance of more than one hike in
U.S interest rates this year.
The dollar .DXY was up 0.22 percent at 96.257 against a
basket of major currencies, its fifth straight day of gains. The
streak would be the longest run for the dollar in nearly a year
and give the greenback its first weekly rise in a month.
The gains were extended after St. Louis Fed President James
Bullard joined a chorus of officials on Wednesday in
highlighting the chance of at least two rate rises this year,
with the first perhaps as soon as April.
"I was surprised to hear all this chatter from other Fed
directors, claiming that the current policy is too dovish," said
Stephen Massocca, chief investment officer at Wedbush Equity
Management LLC in San Francisco.
The gains in the dollar continued to weigh on oil prices,
with both Brent LCOc1 and U.S. crude CLc1 back under $40 a
barrel, with Brent on track for its biggest weekly drop in two
months. Record crude stockpiles in the U.S. also dragged oil
lower.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 43.9 points, or
0.25 percent, to 17,458.69, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 6.48 points,
or 0.32 percent, to 2,030.23 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC
dropped 1.20 points, or 0.03 percent, to 4,767.66.
U.S. crude CLc1 slumped 2.4 percent at $38.84 a barrel,
after sliding 4 percent on Wednesday. Brent LCOc1 was last
down 1.6 percent at $39.84.
The rally in crude prices had been a big factor in the
equity run higher in recent weeks, helping the S&P 500 .SPX
climb more than 12 percent off its Feb. 11 low.
The oil pullback has pressured U.S. and European equities
this week, with both the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index
.FTEU3 and S&P 500 on pace for the worst weekly drop in six.
MSCI's index of world shares .MIWD00000PUS , down 0.75
percent on the session, was down 1.6 percent for the week.
"It is amazing how correlated everything is to oil. That
sort of becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, that oil is going
down so people sell stocks," said Massocca.
The stronger dollar and softer oil prices were reflected in
U.S. durable goods orders, which fell in February, while weekly
jobless claims continued to point to a solid labor market.
Gold XAU= edged up to $1,220.95 an ounce, after hitting
its lowest since late February at $1,212.20 but remained on
track for its biggest weekly drop since November.
Copper, down more than 2 percent for the week, was off 0.38
percent at $4,9312 a tonne.
Benchmark U.S. 10-year notes US10YT=RR were last down 3/32
in price to yield 1.8842 percent, up from 1.875 percent
Wednesday.
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Currencies vs dollar http://link.reuters.com/tak27s
Oil prices http://link.reuters.com/beb23v
Treasuries vs dollar http://link.reuters.com/gak92w
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