Tech came back just a tad but value stocks took a hit today with the Dow dipping 127 as investors sit on the fence awaiting the first Fed meeting to be held since the bond market took off and their take on inflation. Don’t really get why they need Fed reassurances on this as Yellen has already stated that inflation is not a concern, especially in view of the Fed likelihood to continue accommodative policy into the foreseeable future. The fear gauge hit a 5-week low and retail sales dropped due to the severe cold in February. As investors move a little more towards cash awaiting further news, volume remains below average at 12.2 billion.
TUE MARCH 16, 2021 4:54 PM
S&P 500 ends lower as investors
eye Fed meeting
DJ: 32,953.46 +174.82 NAS: 13,459.71 +139.84 S&P: 3,968.94 +25.60 3/15
DJ: 32,825.95 -127.51 NAS: 13,471.57 +11.86 S&P: 3,962.71
-6.23 3/16
(Reuters)
- The S&P 500 ended lower on Tuesday, weighed down by energy and industrial
stocks as investors awaited the result of the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy
meeting. The U.S. stock market lacked
direction for much of the day after the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial
Average closed at record highs on Monday. Wall Street has recently benefited
from optimism about a $1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus package and ongoing
vaccination drives that have bolstered views that the economy is on a path to
recovery. At the same time, fears about
an overheating economy and a recent increase in interest rates have increased
scrutiny on the Fed’s two-day meeting, where policymakers are likely to raise
economic forecasts and repeat their pledge to remain accommodative for the
foreseeable future.
The
Nasdaq ended higher. Apple
Inc rose 1.3% after Evercore ISI hiked its price target on the iPhone maker’s
shares to the highest among analysts covering the company, according to
Refinitiv data.
Wall Street’s fear gauge hit a five-week low at 19.68
points. A midafternoon
rise in the 10-year Treasury yield to 1.62% nipped some enthusiasm for
high-growth stocks. The benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury hit a 13-month high
last week. Investors have slightly increased their cash allocation,
deeming that inflation
and “taper tantrums” could topple the record rally in financial markets, BofA’s
March fund manager survey showed on Tuesday.
“This Fed meeting
is one of the most important ones for the market in a long time. It is
the first we have had
after the recent inflation rate rise and concerns about inflation,” said Tom Martin, senior
portfolio manager at Globalt Investments in Atlanta. Data showed retail sales dropped more than expected in
February due to bitterly cold weather across the country. Another report
indicated winter storms in Texas led to a plunge in U.S. factory output last
month.
The
Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.39% to end at 32,825.95 points, while the
S&P 500 lost 0.16% to 3,962.71. The
Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.09% to 13,471.57. After tumbling 11% from
its Feb. 12 record high through early March, the Nasdaq has mostly recovered and is now down about 4%
from its all-time high close.
Volume
on U.S. exchanges was 12.2 billion shares, compared with the 14.4 billion average for the full
session over the last 20 trading days.
The S&P 500 energy index tumbled
almost 3% after a drop in oil prices while financials and industrials also
retreated more than 1%. The communication services and technology indexes both
rose more than 0.7%. The Russell growth
index rose 0.37%, while the Russell value index fell 0.71% in a reversal of a
recent trend away from technology and other high-growth stocks. Ford Motor Co dropped 5.4% after announcing a
$2 billion convertible debt deal.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.77-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.31-to-1 ratio favored decliners. The S&P 500 posted 63 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 220 new highs and 22 new lows.
No comments:
Post a Comment