Shares climb on earnings; U.S. Treasuries fall

By Chuck Mikolajczak NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks in major markets drifted higher on Wednesday as investors took an optimistic view of the latest batch of U.S. corporate earnings, while U.S. Treasury prices declined after home sales data added to anticipation of a rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve later this year. Benchmark 10-year notes were last down 20/32 in price to yield 1.984 percent after touching a 3-1/2 week high yield of 1.993 percent.