Tuesday saw losses in most US stock indices, with the exception of the Dow Jones, as corporate earnings results for the first quarter came in nonstop.
Prior US data revealed that industrial production increased 0.4% in March, as anticipated, following a 1.8% decline in the first quarter of the year.
The yield on US 10-year Treasury bonds increased by 4.5 basis points to 4.674%, after reaching a high of 4.696% in early November. While 30-year yields increased by 5 basis points to 4.788%, two-year yields increased by 2.5 basis points to 4.961%.
Mary Daly, president of the San Francisco Fed, cautioned against making snap judgements and stated that there is no pressing urgency to lower interest rates.
In a related development, the US economy is predicted to increase by 2.7% this year, despite the IMF raising its prediction for world growth by 0.1% to 3.2%. The US is expected to grow at an annual pace of 2.7% by the IMF, up from 0.6% in the most recent projections.
As of 14:58 GMT, the Dow Jones was up 0.1%, or 40 points, to 37,775, while the S&P 500 was down 0.3%, or 14 points, to 5,047 and the NASDAQ was down 0.2%, or 34 points, to 15,850.