Global Equities, U.S. Yields Rise Despite Weak U.S. Economic Growth Data

• 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."

(Source: Reuters)