- US equity benchmarks closed with modest gains following a quiet day.
- Fedspeak, month-end positioning seem to favor bulls, US Treasury yield rebound restrict the path.
- Retail giants cheer upbeat earnings, Nordstorm justifies shock losses.
- US economic calendar will be the key going forward.
Wall Street closed with mild gains, following a sluggish day, by the end of Wednesday’s North American trading session. The US shares were mostly up earlier in the day but the rebound in the US Treasury yields seem to have weighed on the market sentiment amid a lack of major data/event.
The US Federal Reserve (Fed) officials finally seem to convince the markets that the tapering is off the table even as the reflation fears loom. Recently, Federal Reserve’s Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles said, per Reuters, “The time for discussing rate hikes is still far in the future and reiterated that the policy will remain highly accommodative for some time.”
On a different page, the US removal of China’s Xiaomi from the blacklist and readiness to talk with Russia over the Nordstorm pipeline seems to have favored the risk-on mood. However, the US Treasury yield’s first run-up in five days stopped the equities from rallying.
Against this backdrop, Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) gained 10.59 points, 0.03%, to close at 34,323.05 whereas the S&P 500 came in second with 0.19% daily gains, up 7.86 points, while closing around 4,196. Further, the Nasdaq became the gainer of the day by rising 80.82 points, or 0.59%, to 13,738.
Talking stock-specific, clothing giants like Abercrombie & Fitch and Urban Outfitters benefited from the upbeat quarterly results while American Eagle Outfitters followed the suit. It’s worth mentioning that Nordstorm had to drop over 5.0% amid downbeat quarterly results.
Further, Oil prices gained and gold dropped back below $1,900, following the run-up to $1,912, the highest since January.
Looking forward, global markets will keep their eyes on the US economic calendar as the monthly release of Durable Goods Orders and Weekly Jobless Claims will be the key to follow after multiple empty calendar days.
Read: US Durable Goods Orders April Preview: Jobs should equal spending
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