Stocks remained muted Thursday, as rising yields on long-term Treasury bonds dampened risk appetite.
The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note soared to 4.31%, the highest since October 2007. The 30-year yield rose to over 4.4%, its highest point since March 2011.
Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 were near flat during midday trading, while energy outperformed all other sectors, driven by rising oil and natural gas prices.
Investors continue to maintain a cautious stance after the latest FOMC minutes revealed that a majority of Fed officials continued to highlight “significant upside risks to inflation, which could require further tightening of monetary policy.“
Cues From Thursday's Trading:
The S&P 500 traded flat, while both the Nasdaq 100 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average softened 0.1%. Small caps continued to ease, with the Russell 2000 down 0.3% on the day.
US Index Performance On Thursday
| Index | Performance (+/-) | Value |
| Nasdaq 100 | -0.11% | 14,859.75 |
| S&P 500 Index | -0.01% | 4,405.13 |
| Dow Industrials | -0.07% | 34,743.24 |
| Russell 2000 | -0.25% | 1,866.18 |
Thursday’s Trading In Major US Equity ETFs: In midday trading on Thursday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY was 0.1% higher to $440, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF DIA held steady at $348 and the Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ was 0.1% lower to $362, according to Benzinga Pro data.
The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE rose 2.1%, marking the best performance among the S&P 500’s sectors. Gains also were also seen in the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund XLU and the Materials Select Sector SPDR Fund XLB, up 0.6% and 0.7%, respectively.
Rate sensitive sectors, such as the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund XLY, the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund XLK, fell 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively.
Latest Economic Data:
- Jobless Claims (for week ending Aug. 12): 239,000 vs. 250,000 (previous) and 240,000 (expected).
- Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index (August): 12 vs. -13.5 (pre.) and -10 (exp.)
- Freddie Mac’s 30-Year Average Mortgage Rate: 7.09% vs. 6.96% (pre.)
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Stocks In Focus:
- Moderna Inc. MRNA jumped 6%, on potential higher vaccination demand against new Covid variant “Eris.”
- Cisco Systems, Inc. CSCO rose over 4%, outperforming among Nasdaq 100’s companies, after better-than-expected results last quarter.
- Chesapeake Energy CHK rose nearly 6% on inclusion in the S&P MidCap 400.
- Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM rose 3% as UBS upped the price target from $135 to $139, keeping a Buy rating.
- Notable companies reporting after the close include Bill Holdings, Inc. BILL, Applied Materials, Inc. AMAT, Farfetch Ltd. FTCH, and Ross Stores, Inc. ROST.
Commodities, Bonds, Other Global Equity Markets:
Crude oil rose 1.7%, with a barrel of WTI-grade crude trading at $80. The United States Oil Fund ETF USO was 1.7% higher to $72.56.
Treasury yields rose, with the 10-year yield up by 6 basis points to 4.31% and the 30-year yield up by 5 basis points to 4.41%. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT was 0.3% higher for the day.
The dollar fell slightly, with the U.S. dollar index, which is tracked by the Invesco DB USD Index Bullish Fund ETF UUP, down 0.1%. The EUR/USD pair, as tracked by the Invesco CurrecyShares Euro Currency Trust FXE, was 0.1% lower to 1.0876.
European equity indexes closed in the red. The SPDR DJ Euro STOXX 50 Etf FEZ fell 0.6%.
Gold fell 0.2% to $1,887/oz. The SPDR Gold Trust GLD was 0.2% lower to $175. Silver rose 1.1% to $22.65, with the iShares Silver Trust SLV up 1% to $20.8. Bitcoin BTC/USD was 2.8% lower to $27,917.
Staff writer Piero Cingari updated this report midday Thursday.
Photo: Shutterstock
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