[1/2] A trader works at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, US, May 11, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
SYDNEY (Reuters) – U.S. stocks fell to a higher close on Monday, and benchmark Treasury yields rose on muted optimism that Washington will bypass partisan bickering and reach a debt ceiling deal.
While all three major US stock indexes ended in the green, market participants seemed to show little conviction heading into the first-quarter earnings season, leaving few catalysts to move the market, aside from the disappointing Empire State manufacturing report from the Reserve Bank. New York Federal.
A rally in semiconductor stocks (.SOX) boosted the high-tech Nasdaq Index to a strong advance.
Investors didn’t have much to focus on, aside from negotiations between President Joe Biden and House Republicans just weeks before the US government defaulted on its debt.
“There seems to be some optimism regarding the debt ceiling talks,” said Joseph Sroka, chief investment officer at NovaPoint in Atlanta. “Part of that may be political skill, but it’s helping the market quite a bit today.”
“You have a divided government and that tends to be ‘confrontational’ negotiations,” Sroka added. “It’s blown up a little more than usual.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 47.98 points, or 0.14%, to 33,348.6 points, the Standard & Poor’s 500 increased 12.2 points, or 0.30%, to 4,136.28 points, and the Nasdaq Composite Index increased 80.47 points, or 0.66%, to 12,365.21.
European stocks ended the session higher as investors looked forward to the ongoing US debt ceiling negotiations and the impending run-off in Turkey.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) rose 0.25% and the MSCI worldwide stock index (.MIWD00000PUS) rose 0.41%.
Emerging market stocks rose 0.54%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) closed up 0.84%, while Japan’s Nikkei (.N225) rose 0.81%.
US Treasury yields rose on persistent concerns about slowing inflation even after Atlanta Fed President Rafael Bostick said he would vote to keep interest rates steady if the Fed’s monetary policy meeting were held today.
The benchmark 10-year note fell 32/9 to 3.4962% from 3.463% late Friday.
The 30-year note fell 35/32 to 3.8392% from 3.777% late Friday.
The US currency fell against a basket of global currencies after touching a five-week high, extending gains amid debt reduction talks.
The dollar index fell 0.25 percent, with the euro rising 0.23 percent to $1.0873.
The Japanese yen fell 0.23% against the dollar at 136.05 per dollar, while the pound sterling was last traded at $1.253, up 0.59% on the day.
Oil prices rose, reversing three consecutive sessions of declines as concerns about shrinking supplies were exacerbated by wildfires in Alberta, Canada.
US crude rose 1.53%, to settle at $71.11 a barrel, while Brent crude settled at $75.23 a barrel, up 1.43% during the day.
Gold rose in the face of a weaker dollar as the ongoing debt ceiling standoff fueled fears of a global economic slowdown.
Spot gold rose 0.2% to $2,015.73 an ounce.
Reporting by Stella Keough; Editing by Sonali Paul
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