US stocks edge higher in volatile session after Bank of Japan rattles markets with hawkish policy shift

• US stocks rose in volatile trading on Tuesday after a hawkish policy move from the Bank of Japan.
• Japanese central bankers widened the trading range for benchmark bond yields, allowing rates to get more restrictive.

US stocks finished higher on Tuesday to snap a four-day slump after an unexpectedly hawkish policy move from the Bank of Japan set off a volatile session.

Japanese central bankers widened the trading range on benchmark bond yields, which allows rates to get more restrictive. The Bank of Japan since 2016 had maintained a cap on its 10-year bond yield to fight deflation.

Tuesday's surprise shift came a week after the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve raised interest rates as both continue to battle inflation.

Meanwhile, investors are also looking ahead to Friday, when fresh inflation data in the November personal consumption expenditures report will come out.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. closing bell on Tuesday:

• S&P 500: 3,821.63, up 0.10%

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 32,849.74, up 0.28% (92.20)

• Nasdaq Composite: 10,547.11, up 0.01%

Here's what else is going on:

• A Santa Claus stock rally could fizzle this year, and 2023 returns are at the mercy of Fed rate hikes, DataTrek said.
• Evercore's price target for Tesla stock was slashed by $100, as the company's Model 2 is needed to "right the ship," the firm said in a note.
• Russian oil exports cratered by 54% during the first full week of the European Union's embargo, according to Bloomberg data.
• FTX is trying to recover voluntary payments made to third parties, including political donations, the disgraced crypto exchange said in a statement.
• Nobel economist Paul Krugman slammed Elon Musk and Sam Bankman-Fried in an op-ed, calling them "petulant oligarchs."

In commodities, bonds, and crypto:

• Oil prices were mixed, with West Texas Intermediate up 1.1% to $76.02 a barrel, while Brent crude, the international benchmark, slipped 0.13% to $79.89 a barrel.
• Gold edged 1.71% higher to $1,817.98 per ounce.
• The 10-year yield jumped 10 basis points to 3.694%.
• Bitcoin moved up 1.87% to $16,896.21.