Update: US Indices Turn Mixed While Treasuries Drop Ahead of Eagerly Awaited November Inflation Report

US indices were mixed as the Nasdaq Composite traded higher, and government bond yields extended their gains alongside a strong dollar.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2% to 35,641.22 and the S&P 500 fell by less than 0.1% after trading moderately higher earlier in the session. Nasdaq rose 0.3% after midday on Wednesday.

The 10-year US Treasury yield jumped 4.3 basis points to more than 1.52%, the highest level in more than a week.

The euro slumped by 0.6% against the dollar, which also gained against the Japanese yen ahead of Friday's US consumer price index reading and next week's Federal Open Market Committee meeting. The November forecast for the inflation rate is 6.9% annualized compared with 6.2% reported in the previous month, according to data compiled by Trading Economics.

Following Chair Jerome Powell's comments last week, market expectations are that the Fed could double the pace of tapering its asset purchase program. The move will give the central bank optionality to lift interest rates faster, if needed. Currently, two to three rate increases are priced in the market for 2022, while the curve between the two- and 10-year Treasury yields is flattening.

On Nasdaq, the two biggest gainers were DocuSign, up 11%, and Peloton PTON, which jumped 5.6% intraday. Technology was the biggest gainer.

Pfizer PFE and BioNTech BNTX said Wednesday preliminary results from a laboratory study showed antibodies from their COVID-19 vaccine, BNT162b2, neutralize the virus' omicron variant after three doses.

On the S&P 500, the five top performers were companies such as Norwegian Cruise Holdings NCLH and United Airlines UAL, which are among the hardest hit by the global respiratory crisis. Shares of the duo were each up by at least 5% intraday. On the Dow, one of the biggest gainers was Boeing BA, another COVID-19 casualty.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil climbed $0.57 to $72.58 a barrel.

In company news, Stitch Fix SFIX cut its revenue outlook for the fiscal second quarter as the online personal styling platform anticipates a decline in net client additions, undermining its beat in the three-month period just ended. Share plunged 23% intraday.

In the metals markets, gold was little changed at $1,785, silver was down 0.3% to $22.41 an ounce but copper was up 1.1% to $4.38 per pound. Among energy ETFs, the United States Oil Fund was up 1.6% to $52.41 and the United States Natural Gas Fund was up 3.4% to $12.63.