Wall Street Stocks Turn Higher, Investors Look Beyond Rate Jitters

Barry Adams
04 Apr, 2024
New York City

Stocks on Wall Street bounced around amid interest rate uncertainty and rising commodity prices. 

The S&P 500 index gained 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.9% as the yield on the 10-year Treasury note hovered near a four-month high. 

Investors scaled their rate-cut expectations after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that more evidence is needed that inflation is moving toward the target level of 2% before policymakers can begin to cut rates. 

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta president Raphael Bostic said in an interview with CNBC that only one rate cut is likely in 2024. 

Investors have been digesting a flood of mixed economic news in the last two weeks, and the PCE price index showed it stayed well above the Fed's target rate in February. 

Moreover, manufactured goods orders and construction spending also increased sharply from a year ago in February. 

 

Initial Weekly Jobless Claims Rose to a 2-month High

U.S. initial jobless claims in the week ending March 30 rose by 9,000 to 221,000, according to the latest update released by the Department of Labor. 

The initial claims rose to a two-month high, and continuing claims, which lag by a week, inched slightly lower to 1.79 million. 

 

U.S. Trade Deficit Expanded to a 10-month High

The U.S. Commerce Department reported that the trade deficit rose by $1.3 billion from the previous month to $68.9 billion in February. 

Exports of goods and services in February rose 2.3% to $263.0 billion, and imports advanced 2.2% to $331.9 billion. 

The goods deficit decreased by $0.3 billion to $91.4 billion, and the services surplus fell by $1.6 billion to $22.5 billion. 

 

U.S. Indexes and Yields

The S&P 500 index increased 0.4% to 5,251.70, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.9% to 16,411.42. 

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes edged lower to 4.70%, 10-year Treasury notes inched up to 4.39%, and 30-year Treasury bonds edged up to 4.53%.

WTI crude oil increased $0.35 to $85.23 a barrel, and natural gas prices decreased 1 cent to $1.83 a thermal unit.

Gold decreased by $9.88 to $2,287.25 an ounce, and silver fell 11 cents to $26.99. 

The dollar index, which weighs the U.S. dollar against a basket of foreign currencies, edged lower to 104.05.

 

U.S. Stock Movers

Levi Strauss & Co. soared 10.5% to $22.05 after the denim apparel maker reported quarterly results that met market expectations. 

Revenue in the fiscal first quarter ending on February 25 declined 7.8% to $1.56 billion, net income swung a loss of $10.6 million from a profit of $114.7 million, and diluted earnings per share were a loss of 3 cents compared to 29 cents a year ago. 

The company declared a cash dividend of 12 cents per share payable on May 23 to shareholders on record on May 9. 

Intuitive Machines jumped 2% to $6.16 after the company won a U.S. space agency's $30 million contract to build a lunar terrain vehicle. 

ConAgra Brands jumped 4.9% to $30.50 after the company reported quarterly results that met market expectations. 

Revenue in the fiscal third quarter declined 1.7% to $3.03 billion, net income declined 9.8% to $308.7 million from $341.7 million, and diluted earnings per share dropped to 64 cents from 71 cents a year ago. 

Volvo SE gained 0.6% to SEK 288.50 after the vehicle maker reported a significant increase in sales in March and in the first quarter. 

The Sweden-based vehicle maker, owned by China-based Geely, said the company sold 78,970 passenger cars in March, an increase of 25% from a year ago. 

First-quarter vehicle sales soared 12% from a year ago to 182,687. 

Electric vehicle sales in Europe advanced 34% in March and rose 22% in the first quarter; however, electric vehicle sales in China plunged 34%.