Daily Updates

The S&P 500 closed flat yesterday, while US Treasury yields declined at the front end of the yield curve, as a smaller-than-expected increase in US non-farm payrolls led to some scaling back of fed funds rate hike expectations.

Wall Street saw fresh declines, led by tech stocks, last night, while government bond yields picked up and the US dollar appreciated, despite US economic data surprising to the downside. The declines on Wall Street and a slight increase in US Treasury yields were triggered among others by comments by Fed Chair Kevin, who confirmed his preference for a smaller Fed balance sheet.

Wall Street finished what was a very good quarter with even more gains, supported by further encouraging signals about the Middle East conflict.

US stocks bounced back last night, supported by a de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East.

The uneven performance on Wall Street continued on Friday, with information technology stocks in a further retreat, while most sectors saw ongoing gains. Despite signs of re-escalation of the conflict in the Middle East over the weekend, oil prices have had a quiet start to the morning.

Positive earnings results from a major US semiconductor manufacturer looked set to revive investors in the early stages of the US session, but sentiment waned very quickly, leaving the S&P 500 flat and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lower.