U.S. equities finished the first trading day of the week in the red, but well out of the deep hole in which they began, as trade worries ratcheted higher following a threat of increased tariffs on Chinese goods from President Donald Trump. Treasury yields were lower and the U.S. dollar was nearly unchanged amid a quiet economic calendar, while gold was higher and crude oil prices were mixed. News on the equity front surrounded earnings results from Tyson Foods and Sysco Corp, with the former beatings estimates and the latter offering a mixed release.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell 66 points (0.3%) to 26,438, the S&P 500 Index declined 13 points (0.5%) to 2,933, and the NASDAQ Composite decreased 41 points (0.5%) to 8,123. In moderate volume, 799 million shares were traded on the NYSE and 1.9 billion shares changed hands on the NASDAQ. WTI crude oil gained $0.31 to $62.25 per barrel and wholesale gasoline was down $0.03 at $2.00 per gallon. Elsewhere, the Bloomberg gold spot price increased $1.53 to $1,280.64 per ounce, and the Dollar Index—a comparison of the U.S. dollar to six major world currencies—was unchanged at 97.51.
Treasuries rose amid an economic calendar void of any releases, as the yield on the 2-year note shed 1 basis point (basis point) to 2.31%, the yield on the 10-year note was down 3 bps at 2.50%, while the 30-year bond rate decreased 2 bps to 2.91%. The stock markets came under pressure amid flared-up trade concerns after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to increase tariffs on Chinese goods, with U.S.-China talks expected to resume this week.
The economic calendar will get rolling tomorrow, beginning with the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), with economists projecting that the measure of unmet demand for labor will show 7.35 million jobs were available to be filled in March, up from the 7.09 million in February, while in the final hour of trading consumer credit will be released, forecasted to indicate consumer borrowing was $16.0 billion in March, following the $15.2 billion posted the month prior.
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