Wall Street Close: Vaccine woes test bulls even as S&P 500, Nasdaq refresh record top
|- Wall Street closed mixed despite Nasdaq 100, S&P 500 refreshed record top.
- Bond auction, Johnson & Johnson vaccine news troubled bulls amid upbeat US data, Coinbase debut.
- ECB’s Lagarde, Fed’s Powell and bond moves should be watched closely.
Despite propelling Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 to new all-time highs, Wall Street closes mixed on Tuesday. The moves could largely be attributed to the vaccine news as well as the market’s reflation fears. However, expectations of more fund inflow due to the Coinbase debut favored bulls, not to forget the weaker US dollar.
The DJIA dropped 68.13 points, 0.20%, to close at 33,677.27 whereas the Nasdaq Composite Index came in first with 1.05% gains, up 146.10 points to 13,996.10. Further, the S&P 500 Index also followed the suit by adding 12.14 points, or 0.29%, while refreshing the record top to 4,148.20 before closing around 4,141.
US Consumer Price Index (CPI) for March rose beyond 2.5% forecast and 1.7% prior to 2.6% YoY whereas the CPI ex Food & Energy grew past-1.5% expected and 1.3% previous readouts to 1.6% on a yearly format. Further, the 30-year bond auction met with strong demand while flashing a 2.32% rate versus 2.295% prior.
Other than the data and yields, the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine jitters also tested the equity bulls as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stopped Johnson & Johnson jabs after blood clotting issues. The news raises doubts over the further lifting of the virus-led activity restrictions and challenges the pace of economic recovery.
Even so, investors remained mostly hopeful and propelled S&P 500 as well as Nasdaq 100 to record tops ahead of the Coinbase listing. “Coinbase is set to go public Wednesday in a direct listing that could value the cryptocurrency exchange at as much as $100 billion,” per CNBC.
Looking forward, speeches from central bank leaders of Europe and the US will be the key as market players will be interested in hearing more upbeat comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell than his European Counterpart Christine Lagarde. It should, however, be noted that the bulls are likely to remain on the driver’s seat as developed economies are gradually overcoming the pandemic, more or less, while the Coinbase listing could also entertain the bulls.
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