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In Hong Kong, a man wearing a mask passes past an electronic board showing the Hong Kong stock index. Following Wall Street’s lead, Asian stock markets fell on Wednesday as US services activity slowed.
AP
After the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting minutes provided no cause for investors to modify their bets, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed at fresh highs Wednesday, while long-term bond rates held their losses. The
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a stock market index that measures how well
The stock increased 104.42 points, or 0.3 percent, to 34,681.79, just missing a new high by 0.3 percent. The
S&P 500 Index
gained 14.59 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,358.13, a record high, and the
The Nasdaq Composite Index
The stock rose 1.42 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 14,665.06, a new high. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell 5 basis points, or tenths of a percentage point, to 1.32 percent, its lowest level since mid-February.
The latest Federal Open Market Committee minutes revealed a split: Some officials said they anticipated to begin tapering down bond purchases sooner than projected, while others said they preferred to wait. That came as labor-market data revealed that fewer people departed their jobs in May, and that a predicted increase in job postings was less than expected. “Today’s FOMC minutes revealed a significant dispersion of opinions among Committee members, as it has become increasingly difficult to ignore the vast improvement in the domestic economic environment, as well as the improved virus/vaccine-related conditions,” wrote Bob Miller, head of fundamental fixed income in the Americas for Morgan Stanley.
BlackRock.
While stock prices were at or at all-time highs, continuous drops in Treasury yields produced a conundrum that has become a focus for Wall Street this week. Long-term Treasury rates have fallen the most, with the 10-year yield down 10 basis points and the 30-year yield down 11 basis points this week. The market pricing a lower rate of inflation drove the increase in rates on Wednesday. According to Bloomberg data, bond markets currently forecast a 2.27 percent inflation rate for the next decade. Despite this, not all strategists believe Treasury yields will remain low.
Wells Fargo & Company
According to, the 10-year yield “has a fair chance” of finishing the year at 2%, owing to better growth and slightly tighter Fed policy. Asian stocks ended mixed, with China’s CSI 300 index climbing 1.1 percent, however technology stocks such as Alibaba and Baidu remained under pressure due to the government’s crackdown on internet firms. Didi Global, a publicly traded firm in the United States, had its stock plummet Tuesday after it was ordered to cease signing up new users and remove its app from online stores while it improves customer security. Shares of Full Truck Alliance and Kanzhun fell on Tuesday after news of cybersecurity probes into other Chinese U.S.-listed companies.
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The
The Stoxx Europe 600 index is a stock market index that measures the performance of
Even after a relatively lower session on Wall Street on Tuesday, rose 0.8 percent. The European Union raised its growth forecasts for 2021 and 2022 on Wednesday, noting effective Covid-19 containment tactics and immunization advancements as reasons for the uptick. Following the failure of discussions between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners over disputes on raising output, crude benchmarks extended their losses from Tuesday, reaching levels last seen in 2014. Brent crude oil decreased 1.5 percent and West Texas crude oil plummeted 1.6 percent.
Didi Global is a company based in China.
(ticker: DIDI) is down 4.6 percent one day after losing 20% after Chinese regulators ordered it to be removed from the country’s app stores. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida was likewise critical of the firm.
AMC Entertainment is a company that produces movies.
(AMC) is down 9.8% after down 3.9 percent the day before. This puts them on track for their fourth straight loss, which would be their longest skid since April.
Oasis Petroleum is a company that produces petroleum.
(OAS) gained 1% after RBC Capital upgraded it to Outperform from Sector Perform.
Boston Beer is brewed in Boston, Massachusetts.
(SAM) increased by more than 3% after Credit Suisse upgraded it to Outperform from Neutral. Alexandra Scaggs and Ben Levisohn can be reached at alexandra.scaggs@barrons.com and ben.levisohn@barrons.com, respectively./n
