U.S. Stocks Little Changed Amid Bank Earnings, Fedspeak: Markets Wrap
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(Bloomberg) -- Stocks fluctuated as traders weighed earnings from some of the largest American banks and comments from two Federal Reserve officials who favor continued rate hikes to fight inflation.
The S&P 500 was little changed. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. fell as its results showed traders failed to capitalize on the fixed-income bonanza the rest of Wall Street generated last quarter, contributing to firmwide revenue that trailed estimates. Bank of America Corp. advanced after profit beat expectations.
“It’s so early in the reporting season, it’s really hard to make too much out of what’s going on,” said Tony Roth, chief investment officer at Wilmington Trust. Regional banks are due to report results in the coming days and weeks, and “that will give us a better sense of how they’re doing.”
Read: US Regional Banks’ Deposit Growth Seen at Just $73 Billion
Fed Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic told CNBC he favors raising rates one more time and then holding them above 5% for some time to curb inflation. His St. Louis counterpart James Bullard, who’s been among the more hawkish policymakers, separately told Reuters that he favors getting rates into a 5.5% to 5.75% range. The current benchmark sits between 4.75% and 5%.
BofA clients pulled out of US equities for a third consecutive week, even as the stock market extended this year’s push higher. Outflows were most prominent among institutional and individual investors, with $800 million exiting from the asset class last week, strategists including Jill Carey Hall wrote in a note to clients.
Apple Inc. is racing to build a trove of software and services for its upcoming mixed-reality headset, seeking to win over potentially wary consumers with apps that use the device’s novel 3D interface. The offerings will include gaming, fitness and collaboration tools, new versions of existing iPad features, and services for watching sports, according to people with knowledge of the plans. Southwest Airlines Co. temporarily halted flights nationwide as it grappled with “intermittent technology issues.”
Key events this week:
- Eurozone CPI, Wednesday
- Fed releases Beige Book, Wednesday
- Fed’s John Williams gives a speech, Wednesday
- Fed’s Austan Goolsbee is interviewed on NPR, Wednesday
- China loan prime rates, Thursday
- Eurozone consumer confidence, Thursday
- US initial jobless claims, existing home sales, index of leading economic indicators, Thursday
- ECB issues report on March policy meeting, Thursday
- Fed’s Christopher Waller speaks at cryptocurrency-focused event, Thursday
- Fed’s Patrick Harker speaks on “monetary policy and housing”, Thursday
- Fed’s Loretta Mester discusses the economic and policy outlook, Thursday
- Fed’s Raphael Bostic discusses regional and national economic conditions, Thursday
- Fed’s Michelle Bowman and Lorie Logan speak at event, Thursday
- PMIs for Eurozone, Friday
- Japan CPI, Friday
- Fed’s Lisa Cook discusses economic research at an event, Friday
Some of the main moves in the market:
Stocks
- The S&P 500 was little changed as of 2:22 p.m. New York time
- The Nasdaq 100 was little changed
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed
- The MSCI World index rose 0.2%
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
- The euro rose 0.4% to $1.0973
- The British pound rose 0.4% to $1.2430
- The Japanese yen rose 0.3% to 134.05 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
- Bitcoin rose 2.3% to $30,143.3
- Ether rose 0.3% to $2,082.49
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined two basis points to 3.58%
- Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.48%
- Britain’s 10-year yield advanced six basis points to 3.75%
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed
- Gold futures rose 0.5% to $2,016.70 an ounce
This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.
--With assistance from Cristin Flanagan, Vildana Hajric, Carly Wanna, Isabelle Lee and Peyton Forte.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
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