Markets mixed, oil hits four-year high

Markets were mixed on Wednesday.

The S&P 500 rose 0.1 percent and the STOXX Europe 600 rose 0.5 percent but the Nikkei 225 fell 0.7 percent.

The US 10-year Treasury yield rose 11 basis points to 3.166 percent while oil rose to the highest since late 2014.

“Risk appetite has picked up recently in part because of stronger economic data and also because of progress made on trade between the U.S. and its neighboring countries, Mexico and Canada,” said Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist at Allianz Investment Management, in a note.

However, Jason Goepfert, president of Sundial Capital Research, noted that market breadth has been weak despite the rally.

“When we’ve seen these kinds of ‘split’ breadth conditions in the past, the risk/reward in stocks was unfavorable over the next 2-12 months,” Goepfert said.