Stocks Higher As Attention Turns To Tomorrow’s Key Data…..
U.S. equities kicked off a busy week of economic data and key events by closing higher, in a largely uneventful trading session. The markets appeared to take a cautious approach as investors began to look forward to tomorrow’s unofficial start to Q2 earnings season, with several banking sector heavyweights set to get the ball rolling before the bell. Expectations for tomorrow’s key read on June CPI was also a likely culprit in the muted market movements today, as the report offers the first glimpse of the inflation picture for June this week. Most sectors ended the day higher as Financials and Communication Services led the way, while Consumer Staples and Energy issues were the notable laggards. The U.S. dollar saw a modest increase, while Treasuries were lower as yields rose following last week’s rally in the Treasuries market. Gold and crude oil prices traded lower. Asia finished mostly higher despite the continued China crackdown on the Tech sector and the Delta variant disruption in the region, and Europe turned to the upside in late-day action to close higher as the busy week commenced.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 126 points (0.4%) to 34,996, the S&P 500 Index added 15 points (0.4%) to 4,385, while the Nasdaq Composite increased 31 points (0.2%) to 14,733. In moderate volume, 786 million shares were traded on the NYSE and 3.8 billion shares changed hands on the Nasdaq. WTI crude oil moved $0.46 lower to $74.10 per barrel. Elsewhere, the gold spot price decreased $4.70 to $1,805.90 per ounce, and the Dollar Index—a comparison of the U.S. dollar to six major world currencies—rose 0.1% to 92.25.
Treasury yields slightly higher after last week’s drop ahead of data and Fed Chief testimony
Treasuries were lower, pausing after last week’s rally that applied noticeable downside pressure on yields. The yields on the 2-year and 10-year notes ticked 2 basis points (bps) higher to 0.23% and 1.37%, respectively, while the rate on the 30-year bond rose 1 bp to 2.00%.
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