Stocks Lower and Treasuries Rise in an Uneventful Session…..
U.S. stocks closed modestly lower, in an uneventful trading session. The markets appeared to take a breather today as investors digested another round of an upbeat jobs report and as Treasury yields came under pressure. This morning’s Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey saw job openings jump above the 7 million mark to a 2-year high, and added to the case for robust economic and earnings growth in 2021. The narrative surrounding this economic optimism was largely responsible for yesterday’s rally which saw the Dow and S&P 500 indices reach record highs and helped keep early losses today in check. Sector performance was mixed on the day, as tech stocks pared back some of yesterday’s strong gains and Financials also lagged, whereas stocks within the Consumer sectors and Utilities set the pace. Treasuries were higher, as yields declined, and the U.S. dollar extended yesterday’s drop. Gold and crude oil prices were higher. In equity news, Illumina raised its full-year guidance, but Phillips 66 warned of a Q1 loss. Asia finished mixed and Europe closed higher as most markets returned to action following holiday breaks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 97 points (0.3%) to 33,430, the S&P 500 Index decreased 4 points (0.1%) to 4,074, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 7 points (0.1%) at 13,698. In moderate volume, 866 million shares were traded on the NYSE and 4.0 billion shares changed hands on the Nasdaq. WTI crude oil gained $0.68 to $59.33 per barrel. Elsewhere, the Bloomberg gold spot price was $14.27 higher at $1,742.54 per ounce, and the Dollar Index—a comparison of the U.S. dollar to six major world currencies—moved 0.3% lower to 92.34.
Treasury yields down, U.S. dollar adds to drop, job openings hit a two-year high…..
Treasuries were higher, as the yield on the 2-year note slipped 1 basis point lower to 0.16%, while the yield on the 10-year note declined 5 bps to 1.65%, and the 30-year bond rate decreased 3 bps to 2.31%.
Treasury yields trimmed the spike seen in Q1 and the U.S. dollar modestly added to yesterday’s drop that came despite last Friday’s stronger-than-expected March nonfarm payroll report and yesterday’s robust reads on services sector growth for last month.
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