Stocks Stay Afloat On Strong Retail Sales, Middle East Relief; Bonds Drop: What's Driving Markets Monday?

Zinger Key Points
  • Wall Street stabilizes after Iran's airstrikes on Israel; escalation fears ease with U.S., U.K. interventions.
  • U.S. indices pause losses, retail sales boost limits Fed rate cut expectations. The 30-year Treasury yields rise to 4.75%.

Wall Street can breathe a sigh of relief following the tense events on Saturday night, when Iran launched airstrikes against Israel.

For now, the specter of escalation towards a larger conflict seems to have been mitigated, as both U.S. and U.K. allies have sternly cautioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against any retaliatory actions towards Tehran.

Major U.S. indices moved sideways in midday trading on Monday in New York, halting the significant losses recorded last Friday and the risks of a further extension following last Saturday’s heightened geopolitical tensions.

The market sentiment was further bolstered by a retail sales report that significantly exceeded expectations, showing a 0.7% increase last month. However, this robust data slightly tempered expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts, with investors currently factoring in about 40 basis points of cuts by year-end.

Bond yields sharply surged, causing downward pressures in fixed-income assets. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond spiked 11 basis points to 4.75%, reaching the highest in six months. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT plummeted 1.8%.

Gold inched 0.3% higher, while crude oil fell 1.5%. Bitcoin BTC/USD fell 1.8%, after witnessing substantial volatility over the weekend.

Monday’s Performance In Major U.S. Indices, ETFs

Major IndicesPrice1-day %chg
Dow Jones38,113.630.3%
S&P 5005,136.770.3%
Nasdaq 10018,025.650.1 %
Russell 20001,997.89-0.4%
Updated at 12:18 p.m. ET

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY inched 0.2% up to $511.85, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA rose 0.3% to $381.19 and the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ held steady at $438.54, according to Benzinga Pro data

Sector-wise, the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund XLV outperformed, up 0.9%, followed by the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund XLF, down 0.7%.

Monday’s Stock Movers

  • Tesla Inc. TSLA fell 3.4% after the company announced plans to lay off 10% of its global workforce.
  • Goldman Sachs Inc. GS rallied 3.6% after the bank announced first-quarter earnings that topped Street’s estimates.
  • Charles Schwab SCHW rose 3.8% after reporting slightly stronger-than-expected earnings.
  • Salesforce Inc. CRM fell 5.2% after RBC analysts raised uncertainties regarding the potential acquisition of Informatica Inc, which simultaneously fell 11%.

Read Next: US Retail Sales Boom Well Above Forecasts, Rise 4% On The Year: ‘Blowout Report,’ Economists Say

Photo: Shutterstock

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