S&P 500 Wraps Up Turbulent Month Near Lows of Day: Markets Wrap

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01 Mar 2023, 01:48 AM IST

An electronic stock board outside a securities firm in Tokyo, Japan, on Monday, Nov. 21, 2022. The world's central banks must keep raising interest rates to fight soaring and pervasive inflation, even as the global economy sinks into a significant slowdown, the OECD said. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Stocks dropped during the final stretch of Tuesday’s session and bonds pared earlier losses as investors rounded out a brutal month for both assets with low-conviction moves.

The S&P 500 fell 2.6% in February. The Nasdaq 100 didn’t manage to avert a monthly decline either. A dollar index rose the most this month since September. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield, meanwhile, climbed more than 40 basis points in February.

On Tuesday, Treasuries pared earlier losses that had pushed the 10-year yield toward the closely watched 4% level. Bonds in Europe also fell after hot inflation data caused a reassessment of rate expectations, picking up a theme that has dominated trading in a month that saw the Federal Reserve signal its intention to ratchet rates higher than the market had been anticipating.

Investors in February grappled with realization that inflation isn’t cooling to the extent the Fed would like to see, especially as key indicators the central bank is watching came in hotter than expected. That subdued some of the optimism that had sent stocks soaring in January.

Bond traders now no longer view the odds of a Fed rate cut this year as better-than-even, a shift from what they were expecting just a month ago. Traders are pricing US rates to peak at 5.4% this year, compared with about 5% just a month ago. Market expectations also see the European Central Bank raising rates through February 2024, with a 4% ECB terminal rate fully priced.

“This whipsaw between narratives this year – Fed pause hopes being constructive for high beta assets, recession realities being the opposite – will continue,” Lauren Goodwin, economist and portfolio strategist at New York Life Investments, wrote in a note. “For this reason, and because the hurdle rate for keeping up with inflation is so high, we believe it’s important for investors to stay invested, leveraging resilient themes.”

Nuveen CIO Saira Malik says investors should take advantage of the “strong” fundamentals backing municipal bond and leveraged loan assets. “You are seeing entry points that you haven’t seen in years or even decades,” she says on “Bloomberg Surveillance.”Source: Bloomberg

Read More: Bulls Walloped in All-Asset Downdraft Reversing New Year’s Binge

Traders also, once again, sifted through economic data on Tuesday. US consumer confidence declined in February because of concerns about the outlook for jobs, incomes and business conditions. US home prices, meanwhile, fell for a sixth consecutive month.

“A lot of what the Fed is doing is working,” said Eric Diton, president and managing director of the Wealth Alliance, who noted layoffs at large companies and bankruptcies in small retail firms. “But it’s not a smooth ride. You’ll get blips — January was stronger data across the board and we’ll have to see what February and March look like. But I still think the overall trend is working — inflation is coming down, but it’s going to come down at this slower pace.”

Earnings also continued to trickle in. Rivian Automotive Inc. slumped in late trading as its revenue fell short of estimates. Nextdoor Holdings Inc., meanwhile, posted sales for the quarter that beat analysts’ expectations despite a broader slowdown in the digital-advertising arena. Shares of the company rose in late trading.

Key events this week:

China manufacturing PMI, non-manufacturing PMI, Caixin manufacturing PMI, Wednesday
Eurozone S&P Global Eurozone Manufacturing PMI, Wednesday
US construction spending, ISM Manufacturing, light vehicle sales, Wednesday
Eurozone CPI, unemployment, Thursday
US initial jobless claims, Thursday
Eurozone S&P Global Eurozone Services PMI, PPI, Friday

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

The S&P 500 fell 0.3% as of 4:03 p.m. New York time
The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.1%
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.7%
The MSCI World index rose 0.4%

Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1%
The euro fell 0.3% to $1.0576
The British pound fell 0.3% to $1.2027
The Japanese yen was little changed at 136.20 per dollar

Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin fell 0.6% to $23,254.31
Ether fell 0.1% to $1,625.68

Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 3.92%
Germany’s 10-year yield advanced seven basis points to 2.65%
Britain’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 3.83%

Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.6% to $76.92 a barrel
Gold futures rose 0.5% to $1,834.80 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

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