Global stocks ease, dollar holds ground as U.S. rate bets abound

Stocks slipped on Wednesday while the dollar continued to claw back last week's losses as investors grappled with the prospect of a U.S. interest rate increase in the months ahead coming amid continued uncertainty about the strength of the global economy. This uneasy balance helped push the U.S. yield curve, the difference between 10-year and two-year yields, to its flattest in a month. Asian and world stock indices succumbed to profit-taking after reaching one-year highs earlier this month, whi