* U.S. economic growth falls sharply
* Global equities edge higher
* U.S. yield curves flatten
* Wall Street stocks gains
* ECB leave monetary policy unchanged
(New throughout, adds U.S. yields)
By Chibuike Oguh
NEW YORK, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Global equities moved toward
record highs on Thursday and U.S. Treasury yields rose as
investors discounted weak U.S. economic growth data to retain
their focus on strong corporate results and interest rate
expectations amid rising inflation.
U.S. gross domestic product increased at a 2% annualized
rate last quarter, the slowest since the second quarter of 2020
when the economy was beset by COVID-19 pandemic restrictions,
the Commerce Department said in its advance GDP estimate on
Thursday.
The weak GDP figure was offset by continued improvement in
U.S. jobless claims, which dropped 10,000 to a seasonally
adjusted 281,000 last week, remaining below the 300,000
threshold for the third straight week.
"The GDP numbers are not a surprise since we've come off a
bottom and it's going to slow to the normal pre-COVID pace,"
said Dan Genter, chief investment officer at RNC Genter Capital
Management in Los Angeles. "The earnings confirm that the
multiple is sustainable and it's giving people confidence not to
exit the market and even to put money in."
The MSCI All World Stock Index was up 0.55%
at 745.85 points, barely below its lifetime high of 749.16
points hit last month.
In Europe, the STOXX index of 600 companies pared
back earlier losses and rose 0.24% to 475.16 after the European
Central Bank left its monetary policy unchanged, as widely
expected.
The yield on the U.S. 20-year bond on Thursday
rose slightly above the 30-year bond yield for the
first time, according to traders, a move that garners attention
because of investor sensitivity to inverted yield curves that
can be a harbinger of recession.
Another key yield curve showing the spread between 2-year
and 10-year yields was also flatter on the day.
The benchmark U.S. 10-year yield was trading up at
1.5659%.
"With what we're seeing with PCE run rate, there's a feeling
at some point in time the Feds are going to raise rates," Genter
added.
On Wall Street, all three major U.S. stock indexes were
trading higher driven by technology, industrials, consumer
discretionary and healthcare sectors.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.49% to
35,664.41, the S&P 500 gained 0.83% to 4,589.52 and the
Nasdaq Composite added 1.26% to 15,428.25.
The U.S. dollar held losses to the euro and British pound
late, as currency traders digested moves in interest rate
markets, comments by the ECB President Christine Lagarde and a
weaker-than-expected U.S. economic report.
The dollar index of major currencies lost nearly 0.6%
to 93.363, with the euro up 0.65% to $1.168.
Gold prices rose as demand for the safe-haven asset was
lifted by a softer dollar and data showing the U.S. economy grew
at its slowest pace in more than a year.
Spot gold rose 0.09% to $1,788.33 per ounce. U.S.
gold futures settled up 0.2% at $1,802.6.
(Reporting by Chibuike Oguh in New York; Editing by Will
Dunham)