What’s Driving Markets Monday? — TradingView News

April 1, 2024

1 minute read

Stocks began the new month of April on a weaker note, as investors struggled to digest stronger-than-expected manufacturing data for March, amid concerns the Federal Reserve might postpone rate cuts.

The ISM Manufacturing PMI surged to 50.3 last month, up from 47.8 in February, surpassing expectations of 48.3 and marking the most robust expansion since September 2022.

Major U.S. equity indices experienced slight declines, influenced by rising Treasury yields and a strengthening dollar.

The U.S. dollar index reached its highest level since mid-November 2023, while yields on the 10-year Treasury note surged by over 12 basis points to 4.34%, aiming to close at their highest since early December 2023.

Bonds suffered losses, with the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT dropping by over 2%, as investors adjusted their expectations for a potential June rate cut. The probability of such an outcome decreased to 57%, down from nearly 70% the previous week.

Small-cap stocks were particularly affected due to their heightened sensitivity to interest rates, whereas tech stocks in the Nasdaq 100 managed to hold steady.

The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) surged by 8%, indicating rising concerns among investors.

Despite the challenges posed by rising yields and a stronger dollar, commodities demonstrated resilience, buoyed by unexpectedly positive Chinese manufacturing activity. Gold prices reached $2,265 an ounce in overnight trading before retracting slightly to $2,240, while copper and oil prices rallied by over 1%.

Bitcoin experienced a loss of nearly 4% for the day, dropping below $69,000.

Monday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

Major Indices	Price	1-day %chg
Nasdaq 100	18,267.00	0.1 %
S&P 500	5,241.52	-0.2%
Dow Jones	39,544.31	-0.7%
Russell 2000	2,105.59	-0.8%

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY was 0.2% lower to $522.04, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA was 0.6% down to $395.32 and the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ was 0.1% higher to $444.53, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Sector-wise, the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE outperformed, up 0.7%, while the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund XLRE was the laggard, down 1.4%.