Stocks Fluctuate After Consumer Confidence Report: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) — Stocks fluctuated at the start of a holiday-shortened week, with traders wading through a raft of economic reports and remarks from Federal Reserve speakers for clues on the outlook for policy.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Equities struggled to gain much traction after a rally that sent the market toward its best month this year. The “T+1” rule is coming into effect — making US equities settle in one day rather than two. Treasuries were mixed ahead of sales of two and five year notes. Bitcoin fell as traders monitored transfers by wallets belonging to the failed Mt. Gox exchange.

*KASHKARI: DON’T THINK ANYONE HAS TAKEN RATE INCREASES OFF TABLE

Before Friday’s release of the Fed’s favorite price gauge, Wall Street will have a chance to weigh multiple economic readings. The Conference Board’s gauge of sentiment beat all estimates, rising to 102 from an upwardly revised 97.5 in April, according to data out Tuesday. Home-price growth in key cities accelerated, squeezing buyers.

“It may be short week, but it looks to be a busy one,” said Chris Larkin at E*Trade from Morgan Stanley. “With last week’s FOMC minutes sounding a hawkish tone, traders will be eager to see cool data that could make it easier for the Fed to cut rates.”

The S&P 500 hovered near 5,300. Energy shares outperformed as oil advanced after tensions flared in the Middle East. Nvidia Corp. rallied after the Information reported that Elon Musk has indicated that its artificial intelligence startup xAI — which has raised $6 billion — will use the giant chipmaker’s flagship H100 graphics processing units.

Treasury 10-year yields advanced one basis point to 4.47%. The dollar wavered.

Corporate Highlights:

• T-Mobile US Inc., the second-largest wireless carrier in the US, has agreed to buy US Cellular Corp.’s wireless operations and some of its spectrum assets for roughly $2.4 billion.

• Apple Inc.’s iPhone staged a rebound in China last month with shipments rising 52% amid a flurry of discounts from retail partners.

• Activist investor Elliott Investment Management has made a $2.5 billion investment in Texas Instruments Inc. and is pushing the company to improve its free cash flow.

• GameStop Corp. rallied after the video-game retailer said it brought in nearly $1 billion from a share sale program amid renewed interest for the so-called meme stock.

• DraftKings Inc. and FanDuel-owner Flutter Entertainment Plc fell after the Illinois Senate passed legislation that would raise taxes on sports betting.

• Insmed Inc. soared after the company’s experimental drug reduced episodes of worsening symptoms in a final-stage study of patients with a rare lung condition.

• Energy Transfer LP agreed to buy WTG Midstream in a $3.25 billion deal that will expand the buyer’s already sprawling network in the US Permian Basin.

• Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. is in talks to acquire the US Midwest assets of Russia’s largest steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel PJSC, according to people familiar with the matter.

Story continues

Key events this week:

• Germany CPI, Wednesday

• Fed’s Beige Book, Wednesday

• Fed’s John Williams speaks, Wednesday

• Eurozone economic confidence, unemployment, consumer confidence, Thursday

• US initial jobless claims, GDP, wholesale inventories, Thursday

• Fed’s John Williams and Lorie Logan speak, Thursday

• Japan unemployment, Tokyo CPI, industrial production, retail sales, Friday

• China official manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMI, Friday

• Eurozone CPI, Friday

• US consumer income, spending, PCE deflator, Friday

• Fed’s Raphael Bostic speak, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The S&P 500 was little changed as of 10 a.m. New York time

• The Nasdaq 100 was little changed

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.3%

• The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.6%

• The MSCI World Index fell 0.2%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed

• The euro was little changed at $1.0861

• The British pound was little changed at $1.2778

• The Japanese yen was unchanged at 156.88 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin fell 2.9% to $67,603.13

• Ether fell 1% to $3,850.23

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced one basis point to 4.47%

• Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 2.57%

• Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 4.27%

Commodities

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.