[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Moving the markets An early rally lost steam with the major indexes heading south and closing slightly in the red. It was mixed picture as weakness in the tech arena could not be offset by advancing energy shares and continued strength in SmallCaps (+0.48%). Rising bond yields affected the defensive sectors like utilities (-0.9%) and real …
Poor Economic Data—Markets Rally
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Moving the markets When weak data points appear, one way to deal with them is to simply ignore them. That’s what traders did today, as Housing Starts and Permits tumbled in April (-3.7% MoM and -1.78% MoM respectively), although March permits were revised upwards from +1.9% Mom to 3.6% MoM). This was followed by a plunge …
Spiking Bond Yields Equals Sinking Equities
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Moving the markets It all started with an April slowdown in retail sales from a revised higher (+0.8%) March number to a lame +0.3% in April indicating a lack of follow through growth. That sent equities lower right after the opening to a level at which the indexes vacillated till closing with the Dow and Transports …
Barely Hanging On
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Moving the markets Despite the Dow sporting an 8-day winning streak, an early rally fizzled into the close with the major indexes barely hanging on above their respective unchanged lines. The gains were modest with the leader being energy and health care, while real estate, telecommunications and industrials lagged. Today’s rally was supported by the perception …
Stocks Jump As Dollar Dumps
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Moving the markets Muted inflation fears were one part of the puzzle that helped the markets score another win with the major indexes gaining across the board. First, today’s reading on April consumer prices came in at +0.1%, which was a tad below estimates. Second, the 10-year bond yield pulled back and did not close above …
Energy And Financials Propel The Indexes
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Moving the markets You never know what motivates traders to push the markets higher. After Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear pact, and massive preceding requests by world leaders not to follow through with it, you would have expected the markets to have hissy-fit. They did, but to the upside and with help of the VIX, …