Stocks retreat as U.S. 10-year yields top 3 percent

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A gauge of world stocks dipped on Tuesday, relinquishing earlier gains after U.S. bond yields crossed the three percent threshold for the first time in four years, while oil prices stretched above the $75 per barrel mark.

Equities in Europe hit session lows and U.S. stocks lost ground after the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield > crossed the 3 percent mark to a high of 3.003 percent, its highest level since January 2014. In addition, the two-year yield > touched 2.5 percent for the first time since September 2008.

Benchmark 10-year notes > last fell 6/32 in price to yield 2.9939 percent, from 2.973 percent late on Monday.

 

The move higher in yields dampened the appetite for stocks, which had been higher on the back of a strong batch of earnings from names such as Verizon , up 1.94 percent and Caterpillar , up 2.88 percent.

"The market has to get used to the notion that this could be just another step in reversing a trend that has been in place in the market for nearly four decades," said Frank Cappelleri, technical market analyst and trader at Instinet in New York, referring to declining rates on bond yields.

"From my perspective, if this downtrend is going to break, this is the best chance of it over the last five years."

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> lost 0.23 percent and MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe <.MIWD00000PUS> shed 0.16 percent.

MSCI's index has declined for three straight sessions, its longest losing streak in a month.

Gains on Wall Street were also hemmed in by a 4.93 percent drop in Google parent Alphabet as strong growth in ad sales on search and YouTube were not enough to offset a surge in costs.

Google kicked off a big week for tech sector earnings, with results expected from 23 names in the group including Facebook and Microsoft .

The Dow Jones Industrial Average <.DJI> fell 47.44 points, or 0.19 percent, to 24,401.25, the S&P 500 <.SPX> lost 6.32 points, or 0.24 percent, to 2,663.97 and the Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> dropped 52.08 points, or 0.73 percent, to 7,076.52.

Chipmaker AMS slumped 9.64 in Swiss trading after it reported first-quarter sales towards the lower end of its guidance range on Monday and warned of a downturn owing to weaker orders from one of its main customers.

AMS did not name the customer, but the Austrian company is a big supplier to Apple , making components for the iPhone.

U.S. earnings thus far have gotten off to the strong start that was expected, with the expected growth rate for the quarter currently at 21.1 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data. Of the 118 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported through Tuesday morning, 77.1 percent have topped expectations.

Brent crude oil prices, the global benchmark, rose above $75 a barrel to their highest level since November 2014, supported by OPEC-led production cuts, strong demand and the prospect of renewed U.S. sanctions on Iran.

U.S. crude rose 0.16 percent to $68.75 per barrel and Brent was last at $74.87, up 0.21 percent on the day.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Frances Kerry)