News

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Global stock indexes edged up on Tuesday while U.S. Treasury yields eased as investors looked for more clues on how soon the Federal Reserve may start cutting interest rates.

The U.S. dollar weakened slightly but stayed close to its highest level in nearly three months in the wake of recent strong economic data and the Fed's recent hawkish stance on rates.

Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said on Tuesday that if the U.S. economy performs as she expects, it could open the door to rate cuts. But Mester said she was not ready to provide timing for easier policy amid ongoing inflation uncertainty.

Traders have pushed back expectations of the Fed's first rate cut to May, after previously pricing in a likely rate reduction in March.

Investors on Wall Street also digested the latest quarterly results and forecasts from U.S. companies. Shares of chemicals firm DuPont de Nemours DD.N jumped after it reported upbeat results and announced a $1 billion share-repurchase program.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 141.24 points, or 0.37%, to 38,521.36, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 11.42 points, or 0.23%, to 4,954.23 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 11.32 points, or 0.07%, to 15,609.00.

The MSCI world equity index .MIWD00000PUS, which tracks shares in 49 nations, gained 0.51%.

Overnight, Beijing ramped up efforts to put a floor under its stock market, boosting Chinese blue-chip stocks .CSI300 more than 3%. In New York trading, the iShares China large-cap exchange-traded fund FXI.P rallied 5.7% while the Golden Dragon China index .HXC climbed 5.9%.

The Treasury saw solid demand for an auction of new three-year notes.

Benchmark 10-year notes US10YT=RR slipped 7 basis points on the day to 4.096%, after reaching an 11-day high of 4.177% on Monday. Two-year yields US2YT=RR fell 6 basis points to 4.412% and are down from a one-month high of 4.483% on Monday.

The dollar index =USD, which measures the U.S. currency against six others, fell 0.24% to 104.19, after touching 104.60 on Monday, its highest since Nov. 14.

China's blue-chip index plunged to a five-year low last week on the back of the country's ailing economy, which had prompted state-backed investors, dubbed the "national team", to step up their buying of blue-chip stock tracking index funds to support the market. .SS

Brent and U.S. crude futures climbed after the U.S. Energy Department said crude oil production would not grow as fast as previously forecast.

U.S. crude CLc1 rose 0.7% to settle at $73.31 a barrel, while Brent crude LCOc1 rose 0.8% to $78.59. Spot gold XAU= rose 0.6% to $2,035.89 per ounce.

World FX rates YTD http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh

Global asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn

Asian stock markets https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Additional reporting by Karen Brettell and Herbert Lash in New Yok, and Alun John in London and Rae Wee Editing by Ros Russell, David Gregorio and Lisa Shumaker)

((caroline.valetkevitch@thomsonreuters.com))

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