Closing Stock Market SummaryThe stock market closed out the week on an upbeat note, but things didn't start out that way today. Initially, investors were weighing concerns about the banking industry, again, after reports indicated that Deutsche Bank's (DB 9.35, -0.30, -3.1%) cost of default insurance jumped to a four-year high.
German Chancellor Scholz and European Central Bank President Lagarde both attempted to calm markets after the DB news, but stocks were still under pressure this morning despite their efforts. The S&P 500, which fell below its 200-day moving average (3,932) right after the open, was down 1.0% and hit 3,909 at its low for the day. The Nasdaq and Dow were down 1.0% and 0.9%, respectively, at their lows for the day.
The tone in the market shifted markedly, however, around the time that European markets closed despite Germany's DAX (-1.7%), the U.K.'s FTSE 100 (-1.3%), and France's CAC 40 (-1.7%) all registering sharp declines. The tonal shift also coincided with panicky buying interest in the Treasury market subsiding.
The 2-yr note yield, which fell to 3.56% this morning, settled at 3.77%. The 10-yr note yield, which declined to 3.29% at its low, settled the session at 3.38%.
Many stocks moved higher with today's rally, which saw the S&P 500 close above its 200-day moving average (3,932). The Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) was up 0.9% while the market-cap weighted S&P 500 had a gain of 0.6%. Even Deutsche Bank, which was down as much as 8.3%, pared its losses to close down 3.1%.
Nine of the 11 S&P 500 sectors closed with a gain. Utilities (+3.1%), real estate (+2.6%), and consumer staples (+1.6%) led the pack while the consumer discretionary (-0.4%) and financial (-0.1%) sectors were alone in negative territory.
- Nasdaq Composite: +13.0% YTD
- S&P 500: +3.4% YTD
- S&P Midcap 400: -1.1% YTD
- Russell 2000: -1.5% YTD
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: -2.7% YTD
Reviewing today's economic data:
- Durable goods orders fell 1.0% month-over-month in February (consensus 1.6%) following a downwardly revised 5.0% decrease (from 4.5%) in January. Excluding transportation, durable goods orders were unchanged month-over-month (consensus 0.3%) following a downwardly revised 0.4% increase (from 0.7%) in January.
- The key takeaway from the report is that it could invite questions about the strength of the manufacturing sector since it showed an unexpected decrease in headline orders while the January decrease was revised even lower.
- The IHS Markit Services PMI rose to 53.8 in the preliminary March reading versus the prior reading of 50.6. The IHS Markit Manufacturing PMI rose to 49.3 in the preliminary reading versus the prior reading of 47.3.
There is no notable U.S. economic data on Monday.