Stocks Down Despite More Strong Earnings Results Rolling In…..
U.S. stocks closed lower for a second straight day despite another round of encouraging earnings results. The markets’ recent optimism of robust economic and earnings growth in 2021 continued to give way to top of mind uncertainties including President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan, persistent increases of COVID-19 cases in parts of the world, and questions on rising inflation pressures. Meanwhile, stocks within the Financials and Energy sectors bore the brunt of today’s down draft as Utilities and Real Estate benefitted. The economic calendar in the U.S. was dormant again, but high-profile companies continued to release earnings, as results from Dow members IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Travelers Companies, and Procter & Gamble, as well as United Airlines, all trickled in. Treasuries ticked higher to apply downside pressure on yields, and the U.S. dollar inched higher after a recent rollover. Gold rose and crude oil prices were lower. Asia finished mixed and Europe closed sharply lower, led by Financials in the region.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 256 points (0.8%) to 33,821, the S&P 500 Index decreased 28 points (0.7%) to 4,135, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 129 points (0.9%) at 13,786. In moderate volume, 879 million shares were traded on the NYSE and 4.2 billion shares changed hands on the Nasdaq. WTI crude oil lost $0.76 to $62.67 per barrel. Elsewhere, the Bloomberg gold spot price was $6.03 higher at $1,777.46 per ounce, and the Dollar Index—a comparison of the U.S. dollar to six major world currencies—rose 0.1% to 91.19.
Treasury yields dip, U.S. dollar moves higher, economic calendar remains quiet…..
Treasuries were mostly higher as the economic calendar was void of any major releases today, as the yield on the 2-year note was 1 basis point lower at 0.15%, while the yields on the 10-year note and 30-year bond both declined 4 bps to 1.56% and 2.26%, respectively.
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