United States
Equities ended flat to weaker after choppy trading Monday with afternoon bargain hunting giving way to better selling as bond yields rose. The Dow Jones industrial average and the NASDAQ both slipped 0.1 percent and the S&P 500 was flat.
Sectors were mixed with energy and financials holding up best while health care, transports, homebuilders, online brokers, and airlines lagged. Energy stocks rose as the oil complex advanced. Valero, the oil giant, topped the group with a gain of 5.2 percent. A rally in chipmakers paced technology stocks, with Nvidia up 2.5 percent and Intel up 2.1 percent. Financials outperformed with money center banks getting a boost from Bank of America, up 3.5 percent on an earnings beat, and another leg higher in US bond yields. Other winners included hotels, restaurants, auto retailers, and chemicals.
On the downside, health care sagged with Moderna off 6.5 percent and Humana, the managed health provider, down 1.4 percent. Other decliners included transportation stocks, including Union Pacific, the railroad, down 1.7 percent. FANMAG stocks gave back midday gains late as bond yields perked up again. Netflix was a notable laggard, down 1.0 percent as its takeover drama continued. DR Horton, the homebuilder, was down 1.6 percent, and Lennar, another builder, fell 1.0 percent after an as-expected weak reading in the US home builders index, down at 77 in April from 79 in March.
These price data reflect observations at 4:00 PM US ET: Dated Brent spot crude oil rose US$1.34 to US$113.04 while spot gold rose 33 cents to US$1,977.48. The US dollar rose vs. major currencies. The US Treasury 30-year bond yield rose 2 basis points to 2.94 percent and the 10-year note yield rose 3 basis points to 2.86 percent.
Europe
Equities markets were on holiday.
Asia Pacific
Asia-Pacific equities slipped with rising yields and dollar strength weighing on risk appetite. Trading was limited by holidays in Australia and Hong Kong.
Mainland Chinese equities declined as financials and other cyclicals reacted badly to relatively modest monetary policy stimulus announced Friday. China's CSI 300 and the Shanghai index both slipped 0.5 percent. Sentiment drew no support from a mixed batch of Chinese economic data showing some of the effect of anti-Covid shutdowns as the outlook remains poor. The impact of Shanghai and Guangzhou shutdowns and the widening Covid outbreak has yet to be reflected fully in the data, analysts said.
Rising US bond yields and Friday's selloff in US technology shares depressed Japanese equities, along with spillover from Chinese market weakness. Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 1.1 percent and the TOPIX fell 0.9 percent.
South Korean equities were flat to lower, with the KOSPI off 0.1percent, and the Taiwan Taiex fell 0.6 percent. India's BSE Sensex dropped 2.0 percent, with Infosys down 7.3 percent and HDFC, the bank, down 4.7 percent after the two heavyweights posted disappointing results.
In Chinese economic reports, China's economy grew 1.3 percent on the quarter in the three months to March, down from 1.5 percent in the three months to December. In year-over-year terms, growth picked up from 4.0 percent to 4.8 percent, above the consensus forecast of 4.3 percent. Meanwhile, industrial production rose 5.0 percent on the year in March, down from 7.5 percent on the year for January and February combined but above the consensus forecast of 4.1 percent. Finally, retail sales fell 3.5 percent on the year in March, down from 6.7 percent on the year for January and February combined and weaker than the consensus forecast for a decline of 2.5 percent. Sales also fell sharply on the month, dropping 1.93 percent after increasing 0.30 percent in January and February.
Looking ahead*
In Asia/Pacific, the Reserve Bank of Australia meeting minutes are due. In North America, US housing starts and permits and Canadian housing starts reports are on tap.
