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Stock Market Update

https://www.briefing.com/stock-market-update

Market Snapshot
Dow 33984.93 +3.36 (0.01%)
Nasdaq 14090.24 -48.56 (-0.34%)
SP 500 4186.72 -0.90 (-0.02%)
10-yr Note -1/32 1.588
NYSE Adv 1603 Dec 1605 Vol 778.3 mln
Nasdaq Adv 1896 Dec 2250 Vol 4.6 bln

Industry Watch
Strong: Energy, Industrials, Financials
Weak: Information Technology, Communication Services, Health Care, Utilities

Moving the Market

-- Stock market closes little changed in front of Fed decision tomorrow afternoon

-- Cyclical tilt to the session, UPS (UPS) drove the outperformance of the industrials sector with a 10% earnings-driven gain

Flat session ahead of Fed decision tomorrow
27-Apr-21 16:15 ET
Dow +3.36 at 33984.93, Nasdaq -48.56 at 14090.24, S&P -0.90 at 4186.72

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market closed little changed on Tuesday, as investors assumed a wait-and-see mindset for the Fed's policy announcement tomorrow. The S&P 500 (-0.02%), Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.01%), Nasdaq Composite (-0.3%), and Russell 2000 (+0.1%) finished within 0.3% of their flat lines.

There was a cyclical tilt to the session, evident by the outperformances of the S&P 500 industrials (+0.9%), financials (+0.9%), and energy (+1.3%) sectors. These respective sectors drew support from a 10% earnings-driven gain in UPS (UPS 194.13, +18.32, +10.4%), curve-steepening activity in the Treasury market, and higher oil prices ($62.95, +0.99, +1.6%).

Conversely, the information technology (-0.3%), communication services (-0.5%), health care (-0.5%), and utilities (-0.8%) sectors were among the laggards in negative territory. No sector declined more than 1.0%, though.

Outside of UPS, the earnings picture wasn't as exciting. Tesla (TSLA 704.74, -33.46, -4.5%), General Electric (GE 13.49, -0.08, -0.6%), 3M (MMM 194.38, -5.25, -2.6%), and Eli Lilly (LLY 182.10, -5.12, -2.7%) were some of the larger companies that reported earnings, and shares closed lower in response.

The broader market was unmoved once again by the slate of earnings news, with institutional investors purportedly waiting for Microsoft (MSFT 261.97, +0.42, +0.2%) and Alphabet (GOOG 2307.12, -19.62, -0.8%) to report earnings after today's close. In addition, there was the typical reservation in front of the Fed's rate decision and Fed Chair Powell's press conference tomorrow.

Likewise, there was little reaction to the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index jumping to 121.7 in April (Briefing.com consensus 113.5) -- its highest reading since February 2020, or right before the pandemic shut down the economy. The better-than-expected reading was underpinned by a significant improvement in attitudes about current conditions.

Elsewhere, longer-dated Treasuries saw increased selling interest shortly after the reopening results of the $62 billion 7-yr Treasury note auction, which saw okay demand. The 10-yr yield increased five basis points to 1.62%, while the 2-yr yield was unchanged at 0.17%. The U.S. Dollar Index increased 0.1% to 90.89.

Reviewing Tuesday's economic data:

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index jumped to 121.7 in April (Briefing.com consensus 113.5) from a downwardly revised 109.0 (from 109.7) in March. The April reading is the highest since February 2020.
The key takeaway from the report is that it reflects a clear improvement in attitudes about current conditions, which have been fueled by increased vaccination rates, the receipt of stimulus checks, and reopening activity that is leading to increased hiring activity.
The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index increased 11.9% yr/yr in February (Briefing.com consensus 11.8%) following an upwardly revised 12.1% increase in January (from 11.1%).
The FHFA Housing Price Index increased 0.9% m/m in February.

Looking ahead, investors will receive the FOMC Rate Decision, the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index, and Advance Wholesale Inventories, International Trade in Goods, and Retail Inventories for March on Wednesday.

Russell 2000 +16.5% YTD
S&P 500 +11.5% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +11.0% YTD
Nasdaq Composite +9.3% YTD

WTI crude futures settle higher, boost energy stocks
27-Apr-21 15:25 ET
Dow +36.97 at 34018.54, Nasdaq -41.88 at 14096.92, S&P +2.51 at 4190.13

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 is up 0.1% and could close at another record high.

One last look at the S&P 500 sectors shows energy (+1.3%), industrials (+1.0%), and financials (+0.8%) firmly in the lead amid higher oil prices, curve-steepening activity, and an 11% gain in UPS (UPS 195.37, +19.56, +11.1%) following its earnings report.

The utilities (-0.6%), communication services (-0.4%), and information technology (-0.3%) sectors underperform with modest losses.

WTI crude futures settled higher by 1.6%, or $0.99, to $62.95/bbl.