- US equities mark indecisive start to the key week.
- Facebook propels tech rally, Banks announce a dividend hike.
- US Treasury yields dropped the most in a week amid month-end positioning, quiet session.
- Fedspeak, virus updates will be the key heading into US NFP.
Wall Street benchmarks refreshed all-time highs with mild gains, except for Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI), on Monday. The equities offered a mixed beginning to the key week comprising the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) amid a light calendar. Even so, technology shares entertained market players.
The Federal court’s dismissal of the Federal Trade Commissions' (FTC) antitrust lawsuit against Facebook boosted FB by 4.0%, also propelled shares of Microsoft, Amazon, Apple and other tech giants.
The up-move in technology shares also gained from the downbeat US Treasury yields. The US 10-year Treasury yields dropped 5.4 basis points (bps) to 1.48%, the most since June 18, by the end of Monday’s North American trading.
It’s worth noting that Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and JP Morgan signaled a dividend boost after Morgan Stanley hiked the quarterly dividend by 100%. Another important market news was Cathie Woods’ filing to create a Bitcoin ETF.
On the Fed front, the monetary policy decision-makers remain divided after the US Core PCE Inflation. Recently, Thomas Barkin, President of the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank, said on Monday, "The Fed has had substantial further progress against the inflation goal".
Amid these plays, DJI 30 posted 0.44% daily losses, or 150.57 points, to 34,283.27. However, S&P 500 and Nasdaq refreshed record tops by 4,292.14 and 14,505.20 respectively while closing the day with 0.23% and 0.98% gains, around 4,290 and 14,500 in that order.
Elsewhere, crude oil remained positive while gold struggled for clear direction amid sluggish markets. However, the US dollar index (DXY) shrugged off the Treasury yields’ declines and posted the biggest daily run-up, 0.10%, in a week.
Considering a light calendar and no major events lined up for publishing, the market’s reaction to US President Joe Biden’s infrastructure spending passage and recent covid resurgence in Asia-Pacific will be the key. Also, Fedspeak and China PMIs may offer intermediate moves ahead of Friday.
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