Wall Street Close: Fed’s Powell, Coinbase debut couldn’t keep benchmarks at record top

Wall Street benchmarks refreshed record top but closed mixed.
Fed’s Powell repeated old tunes, Coinbase IPO couldn’t impress markets.
Vaccine jitters continue, Fed’s Beige Book says economic growth accelerated to moderate pace.

Anil Panchal FXStreet

Wednesday turned out to be a dull day for the Wall Street watchers as the key US equity indices stepped back after refreshing the all-time high. The same ignored upbeat economic signals and no challenges to the easy money from the US Federal Reserve (Fed) as well as the sizzling debut of Coinbase on Nasdaq.

All three Wall Street benchmarks initially refreshed the record top as Fed Chair Powell and Beige Book, not to forget other Fed speakers, signalled moderate economic growth on unlocking activities. However, vaccine jitters joined consolidation in the US 10-year Treasury yields to pull the benchmarks by the end of the North American session.

Read: Powell speech: Seeking inflation moderately above 2% for some time

Also considered a distant reason for the market’s sluggish performance could be Gary Gensler’s selection for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s head amid fears of harsh inquiries into digital currencies, the GameStop trading mania and how corporate America prioritizes environmental, social and governance issues, per CNBC.

That said, the DJIA bucked the trend with mild gains of 53.62 points, or 0.16%, to close at 33.730.89, whereas the S&P 500 Index dropped 16.93 points or 0.41% to 4,124.66 after refreshing the record top to 4,151.69. Further, Nasdaq couldn’t enjoy the Coinbase party as the stock fizzles and weighed down the tech gauge by 138.26 points, -0.99%, to 13,857.84 by the end of the trading day.

Other than the aforementioned catalysts, upbeat prints of US Import and Export Price Index data as well as optimism by American Eagle should also have helped the stocks but couldn’t.

Looking forward, weekly US Jobless Claims and March’s Retail Sales are the key economics to watch for fresh impulse. However, major attention will be on the vaccine news as well as updates on President Joe Biden’s $2.25 trillion infrastructure bill.

Read: US March Retail Sales Preview: Can a strong rebound ramp up inflation expectations?

Author

Anil Panchal

FXStreet

Anil Panchal has nearly 15 years of experience in tracking financial markets. With a keen interest in macroeconomics, Anil aptly tracks global news/updates and stays well-informed about the global financial moves and their implications.

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