Treasury Yields Slip as Economic Data Raises Recession Fears, Stock Market Struggles
By Treasury yields slipped on Wednesday as traders snapped up bonds, with the longer-end 10-year yield plunging to a six-month low of 3.30%, down 4 basis points, while the 2-year yield slipped 4 basis points to 3.79%. The yield on the 10-year Treasury Note fell further to 3.28%, the lowest since early September 2022, while the yield on the two-year Treasury Note was 11 basis points lower at 3.72%. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT was up 1%, as rates slid in the morning.[0] The stock market struggled as weak economic data raised recession fears for a second straight session.[0] The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 72 points or 0.2%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.4% and the NASDAQ Composite fell 1.2%.[0] The ADP report said payrolls rose by 145,000 versus expectations of a gain of 200,000 jobs, which combined with weaker-than-expected job openings numbers for February and weaker factory orders, contributed to concerns about a slowdown in economic growth.[0] The Institute for Supply Management’s services activity index also fell to 51.2%, while the U.S. trade deficit widened to $70.5 billion in February of 2023, hitting four-month highs and slightly above forecasts of a $69-billion deficit, with negative implications for Q1 GDP. In single-stock moves, Johnson & Johnson, after quadrupling its offer to settle cancer lawsuits related to its baby powder, saw its shares rise by 4.5%, while FedEx saw its shares rise by 1.5% after announcing it would consolidate its ground, express and freight operating companies into a single organization.[0] However, Albemarle’s shares fell more than 5% after Bank of America downgraded the stock to underperform from neutral.[0] Meanwhile, C3.ai shares fell by about 26% after Kerrisdale Capital sent a letter to the software maker’s auditor alleging a series of accounting irregularities.[0]
0. “Nasdaq ends more than 1% lower, S&P, Dow close mixed as recession talk weighs (SP500)” Seeking Alpha, 5 Apr. 2023, https://seekingalpha.com/news/3954725-sp500-nasdaq-dow-jones-stock-market-risk-off-mood-economic-data
