U.S. Market Averages Rest and Treasury Yields Edge Lower Ahead of Earnings

Barry Adams
17 Jul, 2023
New York City

Market averages hugged the flatline in Monday's trading and investors looked ahead to the release of corporate earnings this week. 

Investors are awaiting earning this week from Tesla, Netflix, IBM, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. 

Major averages were nearly unchanged following the advance for the second week in a row after three inflation reports confirmed cooling of inflation forces. 

Stronger-than-expected earnings from bank bolstered market advances last week and cooler-than-expected inflation raised hopes that the Federal Reserve may be able to engineer a soft landing of the economy and avoid a recession. 

Investors were cautious this morning following weaker-than-expected second quarter GDP growth in China. 

Copper and crude oil declined 1% and European markets fell as much as 1.3% following China's economic updates. 

Treasury yields edged slightly lower and investors assessed the U.S. economy's health and looked ahead to the rate decision after a two-day policy meeting ending on July 26. 

Market participants are anticipating the Federal Reserve to lift rates by 25 basis points, despite the cooling of overall inflation but core inflation remains stubbornly high and well above the Fed's target rate of 2%. 

 

U.S. Indexes & Yields 

The S&P 500 index traded higher 0.1% to 4,510.11 and the Nasdaq Composite futures edged down 0.4% to 14,166.16.

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes decreased to 4.74%, 10-year Treasury notes inched lower to 3.84% and 30-year Treasury bonds edged down to 3.92%. 

Crude oil decreased $0.81 to $76.10 a barrel and natural gas prices decreased 1 cent to $2.54 a thermal unit. 

 

Stock Movers 

United Airlines Holdings Inc edged slightly up to $53.88 after the company and the union representing pilots agreed to a pay hike of as much as 40% over the next four year. 

The preliminary agreement was announced on Saturday following a wage deal announced by Delta Air Lines a month ago. 

Tesla Inc soared 1.8% to $286.66 after the company said it built its first electric pick up truck dubbed "cybertruck" after a delay of two years. 

Ford Motor Company declined 0.9% to $14.85 after the company announced a price reduction of as much as $10,000 for its electric F150 pickup truck. 

Activision Blizzard jumped 4% to $93.60 after Microsoft and Sony reached an agreement to keep Activision's "Call of Duty" on Sony's PlayStation gaming console after the purchase by Microsoft.