Last Update: May 16, 2023, 01:16 AM IST
There was little for market participants to focus on outside of the partisan wrangling on Capitol Hill, as President Joe Biden and congressional Republicans closed on a debt ceiling deal.
None of the three major U.S. stock indexes showed more conviction as the first quarter earnings season kicked off and a lack of market-moving catalysts.
US stocks struggled to gain on Monday with tech stocks leading the Nasdaq, and benchmark Treasury yields rose amid optimism over a debt ceiling deal from Washington.
Aside from a disappointing Empire State Manufacturing report from the New York Federal Reserve, none of the three major US stock indexes showed much conviction as the first quarter earnings season kicked off and a lack of market-moving catalysts.
But rising semiconductor stocks gave the tech-heavy Nasdaq a comfortable edge.
There was little for market participants to focus on outside of the partisan wrangling on Capitol Hill, as President Joe Biden and congressional Republicans closed on a debt ceiling deal.
“It looks like there is some optimism with respect to negotiating the debt ceiling,” said Joseph Saroka, chief investment officer at NovaPoint in Atlanta. “Part of that may be political gamesmanship, but it’s helping the market a little bit today.”
Sroka said, “You have a divided government and they do more ‘stand-off’ talks.” “It’s getting a little more hyped than usual.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 7.61 points, or 0.02%, to 33,293.01, the S&P 500 rose 6.63 points, or 0.16%, to 4,130.71 and the Nasdaq Composite added 65.93 points, or 0.54%, to 12,350.68.
European shares ended the session higher as investors turned their eyes to US debt ceiling talks and Turkey’s impending election runoff.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.25% and MSCI’s broadest sweep of shares around the world added 0.33%.
Emerging market shares rose 0.53%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed 0.84% higher, while Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.81%.
Atlanta Fed President Rafael Bostic said he would vote to keep interest rates steady if the Fed’s monetary policy meeting were held today, even as longer-term US Treasury yields rose on concerns over slow-cooling inflation.
The benchmark 10-year note fell 11/32 to yield 3.5037% from 3.463% late last Friday.
The 30-year bond last fell 35/32 to yield 3.8401% from 3.777% late Friday.
The greenback edged back against a basket of world currencies after touching a five-week high, consolidating gains amid debt ceiling wrangling and weaker-than-expected Empire State factory data.
The dollar index fell 0.25%, the euro rose 0.24% to $1.0874.
The Japanese yen weakened 0.24% versus the greenback at 136.07 per dollar, while sterling last traded at $1.2526, up 0.55% on the day.
Oil prices edged higher on concerns over supply shortages caused by wildfires in Alberta, Canada, but gains were limited on concerns of weak demand.
US crude rose 1.53% to $71.11 a barrel, while Brent settled at $75.23 a barrel, up 1.43% on the day.
US crude rose 1.53% to $71.11 a barrel, while Brent was at $75.29, up 1.51% on the day.
Gold edged higher against a weakening dollar, as the debt ceiling standoff escalated, and investors clung to hopes of an interest rate cut by the end of the year, despite comments from Fed officials.
Spot gold rose 0.3% to $2,016.33 an ounce.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)
