Stocks Stay Afloat On Strong Retail Sales, Middle East Relief; Bonds Drop: What's Driving Markets Monday?

Author: Piero Cingari | April 15, 2024 01:25pm

Wall Street can breathe a sigh of relief following the tense events on Saturday night, when Iran launched airstrikes against Israel.

For now, the specter of escalation towards a larger conflict seems to have been mitigated, as both U.S. and U.K. allies have sternly cautioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against any retaliatory actions towards Tehran.

Major U.S. indices moved sideways in midday trading on Monday in New York, halting the significant losses recorded last Friday and the risks of a further extension following last Saturday’s heightened geopolitical tensions.

The market sentiment was further bolstered by a retail sales report that significantly exceeded expectations, showing a 0.7% increase last month. However, this robust data slightly tempered expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts, with investors currently factoring in about 40 basis points of cuts by year-end.

Bond yields sharply surged, causing downward pressures in fixed-income assets. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond spiked 11 basis points to 4.75%, reaching the highest in six months. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NASDAQ:TLT) plummeted 1.8%.

Gold inched 0.3% higher, while crude oil fell 1.5%. Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) fell 1.8%, after witnessing substantial volatility over the weekend.

Monday’s Performance In Major U.S. Indices, ETFs

Major Indices	Price	1-day %chg
Dow Jones	38,113.63	0.3%
S&P 500	5,136.77	0.3%
Nasdaq 100	18,025.65	0.1 %
Russell 2000	1,997.89	-0.4%

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) inched 0.2% up to $511.85, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) rose 0.3% to $381.19 and the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) held steady at $438.54, according to Benzinga Pro data. 

Sector-wise, the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLV) outperformed, up 0.9%, followed by the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLF), down 0.7%.

Monday’s Stock Movers

• Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell 3.4% after the company announced plans to lay off 10% of its global workforce.
• Goldman Sachs Inc. (NYSE:GS) rallied 3.6% after the bank announced first-quarter earnings that topped Street’s estimates.
• Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) rose 3.8% after reporting slightly stronger-than-expected earnings.
• Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) fell 5.2% after RBC analysts raised uncertainties regarding the potential acquisition of Informatica Inc, which simultaneously fell 11%.

Read Next: US Retail Sales Boom Well Above Forecasts, Rise 4% On The Year: ‘Blowout Report,’ Economists Say

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