Sector Investing

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Market Snapshot

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

Dow 34583.57 +87.06 (0.25%)
Nasdaq 13897.28 +8.48 (0.06%)
SP 500 4500.21 +19.06 (0.43%)
10-yr Note -4/32 2.639
NYSE Adv 1491 Dec 1660 Vol 1.0 bln
Nasdaq Adv 1858 Dec 2570 Vol 4.7 bln

Industry Watch
Strong: Health Care, Consumer Staples, Energy
Weak: Real Estate, Utilities, Communication Services, Financials

Moving the Market

-- Large-cap indices close higher, recovering early losses on no specific news

-- S&P 500 reclaims 200-day moving average (4492) on closing basis

-- Longer-dated Treasury yields creep higher, steepening the curve

Large-cap indices close higher, recovering early losses
07-Apr-22 16:20 ET
Dow +87.06 at 34583.57, Nasdaq +8.48 at 13897.28, S&P +19.06 at 4500.21

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 increased 0.4% on Thursday, overcoming a 0.7% intraday decline on no specific news catalysts. The Nasdaq Composite (+0.1%) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.3%) also recouped intraday losses while the Russell 2000 (-0.4%) still closed lower despite a recovery effort.

Two early headwinds for the market included technical resistance at the S&P 500's 200-day moving average (4492) and upwards pressure in long-term interest rates. The 10-yr yield settled higher by five basis points to 2.66% after trading at 2.56% overnight.

Investors, also cognizant of a hawkish-minded Fed, continued to lean defensively as the market drifted lower throughout the morning. Equities, however, turned around in the afternoon without a news catalyst, perhaps amid a contrarian mindset as sentiment had gotten too bearish.

The S&P 500 reclaimed its 200-day moving average on a closing basis with the help of seven of its 11 sectors. The health care (+1.9%), energy (+1.4%), and consumer staples (+1.2%) sectors led the advance with gains over 1.0%.

Conversely, the real estate (-0.9%), communication services (-0.7%), utilities (-0.3%), and financials (-0.1%) sectors closed lower. The CBOE Volatility Index (21.55, -0.55, -2.5%) did, too, as hedging interest waned amid the rebound-minded action.

In corporate news, shares of Costco (COST 608.05, +23.26, +4.0%) hit an all-time high after the company reported adjusted March comparable sales growth of 12.2% while HP Inc. (HPQ 40.06, +5.15, +14.8%) surged 15% after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B 346.51, +1.80, +0.5%) disclosed a stake in the company.

Back in the Treasury market, the 2s10s spread increased to 19 basis points from 12 basis points yesterday. The 2-yr yield decreased two basis points to 2.47% while the 10-yr yield, as noted above, settled at 2.66%. The U.S. Dollar Index increased 0.2% to 99.79. WTI crude futures fell 0.3%, or $0.29, to $96.30/bbl.

Reviewing Thursday's economic data:

Initial claims for the week ending April 2 dropped by 5,000 to 166,000 (Briefing.com consensus 200,000). Continuing claims for the week ending March 26 increased by 17,000 to 1.523 million.
The key takeaway from the report is that it was influenced by revisions to seasonal adjustment factors. Still, the low level of initial claims following the revisions remains indicative of a tight labor market.
Consumer credit increased by $41.8 billion in February (Briefing.com consensus $15.5 billion). The prior month saw an upward revision to $8.9 bln from $6.8 bln.
In February, consumer credit increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 11.3%. Revolving credit increased at an annual rate of 20.7%, while nonrevolving credit increased at an annual rate of 8.4%.

Looking ahead, investors will receive the Wholesale Inventories report for February on Friday.

Dow Jones Industrial Average -4.8% YTD
S&P 500 -5.6% YTD
Russell 2000 -10.5% YTD
Nasdaq Composite -11.2% YTD

Crude futures settle slightly lower
07-Apr-22 15:30 ET
Dow +134.68 at 34631.19, Nasdaq +55.70 at 13944.50, S&P +29.33 at 4510.48

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 is up 0.7% while the Russell 2000 is still stuck in negative territory with a 0.2% decline.

One last look at the sectors shows health care (+2.0%), consumer staples (+1.2%), and energy (+1.1%) up between 1-2%, while the real estate (-0.7%), utilities (-0.5%), and communication services (-0.4%) sectors are the only sectors trading lower.

WTI crude futures settled lower by $0.29 (-0.3%) to $96.30/barrel.