THE DAILY NEWS

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REUTERS

"U.S. housing starts near 15-year high; consumer sentiment rises moderately"


Lucia Mutikani

April 16, 2021

U.S. homebuilding surged to nearly a 15-year high in March, but soaring lumber prices amid supply constraints could limit builders' capacity to boost production and ease a shortage of homes that is threatening to slow housing market momentum.

The sharp rebound reported by the Commerce Department on Friday added to robust retail sales in March in suggesting that the economy was roaring after a brief weather-related setback in February.

Increasing COVID-19 vaccinations, warmer weather and massive fiscal stimulus are driving the economy, with growth this year expected to be the strongest in nearly four decades.

But caution is starting to creep in among consumers as the course of the pandemic remains uncertain and inflation is showing signs of heating up.

Other data on Friday showed consumer sentiment rose moderately in early April.

"We're in a unique situation with the economy beginning to rebound from the worst of the pandemic," said Robert Frick, corporate economist at Navy Federal Credit Union in Vienna, Virginia.

"Uncertainties remain, with many businesses yet to reopen, unemployment still high, and COVID-19 levels lower but persistent."

Housing starts surged 19.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.739 million units last month, the highest level since June 2006.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast starts would rise to a rate of 1.613 million units in March.

Starts soared 37.0% on a year-on-year basis in March.

Homebuilding slumped in February as large parts of the country reeled from unseasonably cold weather, including winter storms in Texas and other parts of the densely-populated South region.

Groundbreaking activity increased in the Northeast, Midwest and South, but fell in the West.

Permits for future home building rose 2.7% to a rate of 1.766 million units last month, recouping only a fraction of February's 8.8% plunge.

They jumped 30.2% compared to March 2020.

"While housing demand is expected to remain strong, we expect it to diminish somewhat as the year progresses," said Doug Duncan, chief economist at Fannie Mae in Washington.

"Homebuilders continue to face supply constraints, including increasing prices of lumber and other materials."

Stocks on Wall Street were mostly higher, with the S&P 500 index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting fresh record highs.

The dollar slipped against a basket of currencies.

U.S. Treasury prices were lower.

RECORD LUMBER PRICES

The housing market is being fueled by demand for bigger and more expensive accommodations, with millions of Americans continuing to work from home and remote schooling remaining in place as the pandemic enters its second year.

Housing supply has been insufficient, with the inventory of previously-owned homes at record lows.

This is underpinning homebuilding.

A survey from the National Association of Home Builders on Thursday showed confidence among single-family homebuilders increased in April amid strong buyer traffic.

Builders appealed for solutions "to increase the supply of building materials as the economy runs hot in 2021."

Inflation concerns were on consumers' minds early this month.

A separate report from the University of Michigan on Friday showed its preliminary consumer sentiment index rose to 86.5 from a final reading of 84.9 in March.

Economists had forecast the index would rise to 89.6.

The survey's one-year inflation expectation jumped to 3.7%, the highest level in nearly a decade, from 3.1% in March.

Its five-year inflation outlook was unchanged at 2.7%.

Reports this month showed big increases in both consumer and producer prices in March as strong domestic demand pushed against supply constraints.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and many economists view higher inflation as transitory, with supply chains expected to adapt and become more efficient.

Supply disruptions because of coronavirus-related restrictions are driving up commodity prices.

Softwood lumber, which is used for frames and trusses of houses, surged by a record 83.4% on a year-on-year basis in March, according to the latest producer price data published last week.

Prices of other building materials such as plywood have also risen sharply.


Port congestion on the West Coast as well as winter weather in Canada that has shut mills and restricted truck shipping were also contributing to the shortages that were driving prices of building materials higher, according to an Institute for Supply Management survey published early this month.

Single-family homebuilding, the largest share of the housing market, surged 15.3% to a rate of 1.238 million units in March.

Still, starts remained below last December's peak, likely constrained by the more expensive building materials.

Single-family building permits rose 4.6% to a rate of 1.199 million units.

"The failure of single-family starts to fully recover to last winter's peak level despite tight inventories in most metropolitan areas supports the idea builders are holding back," said Chris Low, chief economist at FHN Financial in New York.

Starts for the volatile multi-family segment soared 30.8% to a pace of 501,000 units.

Building permits for multi-family housing projects fell 1.2% to a pace of 567,000 units.

Housing completions accelerated 16.6% to a rate of 1.580 million units last month, the highest since March 2007.

Single-family home completions shot up 5.3% to a rate of 1.099 million, the highest since November 2007.

Realtors estimate that single-family housing starts and completion rates need to be in a range of 1.5 million to 1.6 million units per month to close the inventory gap.

The stock of housing under construction rose 0.8% to a rate of 1.306 million units, the highest since September 2006.

https://www.reuters.com/business/us-hou ... 021-04-16/
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REUTERS

"S&P 500, Dow hit record highs on bank earnings boost"


Shivani Kumaresan

April 16, 2021

The S&P 500 and the Dow hit record highs on Friday after Morgan Stanley wrapped up bumper quarterly earnings reports from big U.S. banks, while optimism about a solid economic rebound put the main indexes on course for weekly gains.

Nine of the 11 S&P indexes were higher, with only the information technology and the energy indexes edging lower after outperforming in the previous session.

The benchmark S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow are on course for their fourth straight week of gains, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq is less than a percent below its own all-time closing high on the back of upbeat economic data and a solid start to the first-quarter corporate earnings season.

"You are just seeing blow out earnings from the banks and all the data pointing to a very strong reopening," said Thomas Hayes, chairman of Great Hill Capital.

"So it's a day for (the so-called) 'reopening trade' with strong financials."

Morgan Stanley reported a 150% jump in quarterly profit on Friday, joining JPMorgan Chase & Co, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Bank of America in reinforcing hopes of a swift economic recovery.

Still, the investment bank's shares fell 2.9% as it also disclosed an almost $1 billion loss from the collapse of private fund Archegos.

Shares of JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo & Co rose between 0.7% and 2.4%, while the S&P financials index was up 0.4% after hitting a record high earlier in the day.

By 12:04 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 101.65 points, or 0.30%, at 34,137.64, the S&P 500 was up 8.02 points, or 0.19%, at 4,178.44, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 7.80 points, or 0.06%, at 14,030.96.

The Federal Reserve's pledge to keep interest rates low despite higher inflation has also revived demand for richly valued technology stocks, although bond yields edged higher again on Friday after hitting multi-week lows in the previous session.

Tech behemoths Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Tesla Inc and Microsoft Corp, which led Wall Street's recovery last year from the coronavirus-fueled crash, slipped between 0.2% and 1.5%.

The information technology index pulled back from an all-time high hit in early trading.

"The biggest risk that could cause a (stocks) sell off is the development of COVID-19 variants, a slowdown in the reopening and persistent inflation," Hayes said.

Bitcoin-related stocks including Riot Blockchain and Marathon Digital slumped about 4% after Turkey banned the use of cryptocurrencies and crypto assets to purchase goods and services.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners 1.15-to-1 on the NYSE, while declining issues outnumbered advancers 1.53-to-1 on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 136 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 129 new highs and 91 new lows.

https://www.reuters.com/business/future ... 021-04-16/
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POLITICO

"Democrats to introduce legislation to expand Supreme Court - The measure would increase the court's size to 13."


By MARIANNE LEVINE

04/14/2021 09:01 PM EDT

House and Senate Democrats will introduce legislation Thursday to expand the number of Supreme Court justices to 13 from nine, drawing more attention to the debate surrounding court reform.

The bill, led by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), is the first legislation in recent years designed to add seats to the high court, and its introduction comes as progressive organizations are pushing for court expansion, after watching Senate Republicans fill three Supreme Court vacancies in four years under President Donald Trump.


Brian Fallon, executive director of the liberal group Demand Justice, said the bill represents a “new era where Democrats finally stop conceding the Supreme Court to Republicans."

He added that the task for progressives now “is to build a grassroots movement that puts pressure on every Democrat in Congress to support this legislation because it is the only way to restore balance to the Court and protect our democracy.”

President Joe Biden, however, has said he is “not a fan” of the idea, also known as “court packing.”

Instead, the White House announced last week the creation of a bipartisan commission to study reforms to the Supreme Court and produce a report.

The high court currently has a 6-3 conservative majority.

While advocates have been pushing for the addition of seats to the Supreme Court, the bill won’t see much movement in the evenly split Senate, with all Republicans and several moderate Democrats opposed to court expansion.

The legislation is all but guaranteed to prompt attacks from Republicans, who during the 2020 elections warned that Democrats would expand the courts if they took control of Washington.

Justice Stephen Breyer, who outside groups are urging to retire before the 2022 midterms, recently cautioned against court packing for fear that doing so would only undermine public confidence in the institution.

The issue, nevertheless, served as a litmus test during the 2020 Democratic primary for progressives.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), then-Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and Pete Buttigieg suggested they were open to the idea.

But others, including Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), did not back it.

The number of seats on the high court has fluctuated in American history, from as few as five to as many as 10.

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/1 ... urt-481640
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RIGZONE

"Oil Prices Edge Upward As Greenback Weakens"


by Bloomberg | Andres Guerra Luz

Monday, April 19, 2021

(Bloomberg) -- Oil edged higher with help from a weakening dollar while a worsening demand picture in parts of the world continued to hold back prices from another breakout.

Futures in New York rose 0.4% Monday after trading in a $1 range during the session.

Total road fuel sales in France remained lower compared to the same time in 2019, while a key refiner in India is slashing oil processing rates as the virus rapidly spreads and lockdowns pummel fuel use in the country.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index headed for the lowest since late February, boosting the appeal of commodities priced in the currency.

“Energy consumption in areas that are reopening faster than others is showing the increased demand for oil,” said Phil Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures LLC in Chicago.

“Other places will start to reopen one after another."

"It’s unclear when we’ll get to fully or more than 80% vaccinated, but that’s when crude oil can take off.”

While rising momentum in the U.S. vaccination campaign is boosting optimism around a demand rebound there, the market is holding back from testing this year’s highs as it waits for other countries to narrow the gap.

Oil’s forward curve is pointing toward growing confidence, with the widely watched spread between the nearest December contracts widening to its most bullish backwardation structure in roughly a month.

“U.S. demand seems to be healthy, and that’s giving us support,” said Gary Cunningham, director at Stamford, Connecticut-based Tradition Energy.

However, “we still have questions around international virus outbreaks, and we’re seeing troubling numbers in India that are forcing them to shut down infrastructure.”

Prices

West Texas Intermediate for May settlement, which expires Tuesday, gained 25 cents to settle at $63.38 a barrel.

The more-active June contract increased 24 cents to $63.43 a barrel.

Brent for June delivery rose 28 cents to $67.05 a barrel.

In physical markets, U.S. sour crudes are signaling strength as nationwide refineries runs have increased to the highest in over a year in recent weeks.

The premium for Southern Green Canyon against Nymex oil futures is near the highest since late February, while other sour grades like Mars and Poseidon have also strengthened in the past couple months.

Traders are also following high-level talks between Iran, the U.S. and other nations aimed at ending a standoff over the nuclear deal abandoned by former President Trump.

Washington described negotiations as “constructive,” while the Islamic Republic signaled it was ready to debate details to revive the accord.

An agreement could see U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil exports lifted.

Related news:

OPEC and its allies are discussing downgrading next week’s full-scale ministerial meeting, delegates said, a signal the coalition may stick with plans to gradually revive oil production.

Iran said on Monday it would welcome any talks with Saudi Arabia after Iraq intensified its mediation between the feuding Middle Eastern powers at a critical juncture.

Libyan oil production dropped to below 1 million barrels a day for the first time in months, as delays in receiving funds for infrastructure repairs forced a halt at one of the nation’s main ports.

--With assistance from Alex Longley, Jack Wittels and Sheela Tobben.

https://www.rigzone.com/news/wire/oil_p ... 1-article/
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CNBC

"10-year Treasury yield rises above 1.6% to start the week"


Vicky McKeever @VMCKEEVERCNBC

PUBLISHED MON, APR 19 2021

U.S. Treasury yields rose slightly on Monday as investors continued to monitor corporate earnings and the progress of the economic reopening.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note gained 4 basis points to 1.61%.


The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also higher at 2.29%.

Yields move inversely to prices.

There are no major economic data releases due out on Monday.

In terms of the coronavirus pandemic, White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said he expects the U.S. will resume administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The Food and Drug Administration asked states last week to temporarily halt using the single-dose vaccine “out of an abundance of caution” after six women developed a rare blood-clotting disorder.

“My estimate is that we will continue to use it in some form,” Fauci said Sunday during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“I doubt very seriously if they just cancel it."

"I don’t think that’s going to happen."

"I do think that there will likely be some sort of warning or restriction or risk assessment.”

Auctions are due to be held Monday for $57 billion of 13-week bills and $54 billion of 26-week bills.

— CNBC’s Pippa Stevens contributed to this report.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/19/us-bond ... lower.html
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CNBC

"CDC says fewer than 6,000 Americans have contracted Covid after being fully vaccinated"


Rich Mendez @RICHMENDEZCNBC

PUBLISHED MON, APR 19 2021

KEY POINTS

* U.S. health officials have confirmed fewer than 6,000 cases of Covid-19 in fully vaccinated Americans, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said.

* That represents just 0.007% of the 84 million Americans with full protection against the virus.

* The CDC chief acknowledged that the number could be an underestimate.


U.S. health officials have confirmed fewer than 6,000 cases of Covid-19 in fully vaccinated Americans, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Monday.

That represents just 0.007% of the 84 million Americans with full protection against the virus.

Despite the breakthrough infections, none of the patients has died or gotten severely ill, indicating the vaccines are working as intended, she said.

“With any vaccine, we expect such rare cases, but so far out of more than 84 million people who were fully vaccinated, we have only received reports of less than 6,000 breakthrough cases,” Walensky told reporters at a press briefing.

Breakthrough cases occur when someone contracts the virus more than 14 days after their second shot, she said.

The CDC chief acknowledged that the number could be an underestimate.

“Although this number is from 43 states and territories and likely an underestimate, it still makes a really important point, these vaccines are working."

"Of the nearly 6,000 cases, approximately 30% had no symptoms at all,” Walensky said.


Half of all American adults have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

Of those age 65 and older, 81% have received one dose or more and about two-thirds are fully vaccinated.

U.S. health officials are launching a massive campaign to persuade more Americans to take the vaccine.

An increasing number of people has become skeptical after the CDC and Food and Drug Administration asked states to temporarily halt distribution of Johnson & Johnson vaccines last week after cases of a rare, but potentially deadly, blood-clotting disorder were reported to the CDC.


Some of former President Donald Trump’s supporters also are strongly opposed to taking the vaccine, which worries U.S. health officials hoping enough people will get immunized so the country can obtain herd immunity to the virus.

White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci has previously said 75% to 85% of the U.S. population need to be inoculated to create an “umbrella” of immunity that prevents the virus from spreading.

“It’s very disturbing that on the basis of political persuasion people are not wanting to get vaccinated,” Fauci said Monday on “CBS This Morning.”

“I find that really extraordinary because those are the ones who are saying you’re encroaching on our liberties by asking us to wear masks and do kinds of restrictions that are public health issues."

"The easiest way to get out of that is to get vaccinated.”

The U.S. is reporting 723 Covid deaths per day, according to a seven-day average based on data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

All 50 U.S. states, at Biden’s urging, opened vaccine appointments to people age 16 and older by Monday.

—CNBC’s Nate Rattner contributed to this report.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/19/cdc-say ... icans.html
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REUTERS

"TREASURIES-Yields higher as traders look to Wednesday auction"


By Ross Kerber

APRIL 19, 2021

April 19 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury yields were higher on Monday even as equities markets fell, as traders looked ahead to a Wednesday bond auction.

The benchmark 10-year yield was up 3.2 basis points in afternoon trading at 1.6047% after reaching as high as 1.617% during the morning.

The level was well above the multiweek low of 1.528% reached April 15.

The decline from the day's highest yields came as Wall Street's main indexes slid from record levels, while investors watched the first-quarter earnings season for signs of how well corporate America is rebounding from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Yields are taking their cues from the equity markets," said Jim Barnes, director of fixed income for Bryn Mawr Trust.

He and others said investors are also waiting to gauge the market's appetite for $24 billion of 20-year bonds scheduled to be auctioned on Wednesday.

Stronger economic expectations could also drive up yields on midterm five-year and seven-year notes this week, said Justin Lederer, Cantor Fitzgerald Treasury analyst.

But investors seem uncertain whether to resume the selling that drove the benchmark 10-year yield to 1.776% on March 30, the highest since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It still feels like we're trying to establish a range here," Lederer said.

Overnight repurchase rates, which measure the cost of borrowing short-term cash using Treasuries or other debt securities as collateral, have turned negative in some recent cases, a trend analysts say could prompt the Fed to lift the short-term rates it manages.

A closely watched part of the U.S. Treasury yield curve measuring the gap between yields on two- and 10-year Treasury notes, seen as an indicator of economic expectations, was at 144 basis points, about a basis point higher than Friday's close.

The two-year U.S. Treasury yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, was unchanged at 0.1632%.

https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-bon ... SL1N2MC1RH
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REUTERS

"Exclusive-New York's Infinity Q winds down hedge fund as valuation issues spread"


By Lawrence Delevingne

APRIL 19, 2021

BOSTON (Reuters) - New York investment firm Infinity Q Capital Management LLC is liquidating its hedge fund as the fallout from a U.S. regulatory probe into its valuation practices spreads, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

The hedge fund wind-down, first reported by Reuters, may expand the Wall Street firm’s client losses and spark further questions over who is to blame for the valuation problems first surfaced by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Infinity Q, which is backed by private equity billionaire David Bonderman, said in January that it managed $3 billion in assets.

It was forced to liquidate its mutual funds after the SEC found that chief investment officer James Velissaris made potentially unreasonable adjustments to a pricing model used to value fund investments, according to an SEC February notice here.

The valuation issues also extend to the company’s main hedge fund, Infinity Q Volatility Alpha Fund LP, which is now being liquidated too, according to the source.


That fund managed $760 million as of March 31, according to a regulatory filing here, but the cash value post liquidation was unclear.

Its investors include the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio and the Texas Municipal Retirement System, according to public disclosures.

Meanwhile, the unwinding of the mutual fund Infinity Q Diversified Alpha Fund has so far showed cash of around $1.25 billion as of March 25, nearly $500 million less than on Feb. 18, according to a regulatory filing here.

That makes it one of the largest valuation cases in the SEC's history.

Velissaris’s attorney Sean Hecker said in a statement that the change in value reflected the mutual fund’s forced liquidation and that his client had not misused the pricing tool.

“Any inquiry will determine James used these tools and others when determining appropriate valuations as part of his efforts to act in the best interests of investors,” Hecker said.

A spokesman for the SEC declined to comment.

Representatives for the above hedge fund investors did not provide comment.

While the SEC’s February notice only flagged Velissaris’s actions, attorneys said the case resurfaced longstanding questions over whether independent parties tasked with watching over funds’ governance do enough to independently confirm portfolio pricing.

“It’s really surprising that this was able to happen,” said Paul Hastings attorney Vadim Avdeychik, adding complex securities should incur extra scrutiny from fund board directors and auditors.

“I think the SEC will definitely analyze the facts here and determine if there is an example to be made.”

GATEKEEPERS QUESTIONS

Infinity Q ran alternative strategies using complex derivatives.

Velissaris told Institutional Investor here in June that his portfolios gained in early 2020 even as other volatility funds dropped sharply.

The flagship fund posted a 6.27% gain in 2020, nearly double the Morningstar Multialternative benchmark.

“As funds stretch for yield in more esoteric investments, the SEC is likely to make sure traditional valuation gatekeepers are keeping watch,” said Michael Birnbaum, a former SEC attorney with Morrison & Foerster LLP.

An investor class action lawsuit filed by New York-based Rosen Law Firm alleges Infinity Q’s mutual fund trustees made false or misleading claims about the portfolio’s value due to knowledge or “reckless disregard” of the mispricing.

Infinity Q is also analyzing potential legal claims against its service providers, its liquidators said on April 8, without naming them.

Auditor EisnerAmper LLP certified Infinity Q's mutual fund financial statements as recently as Oct. 29, 2020, which it said in a regulatory filing here includes assessing "the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud."

EisnerAmper declined to comment.

None of Infinity Q’s trustees or directors would comment.

While independent third parties have responsibilities for making sure policies are followed, some industry experts said it was a stretch to hold them accountable in cases of deception.

“If someone has malicious intent, they aren’t telling the board."

"Absent significant additional facts, holding directors accountable for that fraud is unreasonable,” said Carolyn McPhillips, president of trade group Mutual Fund Directors Forum.

Reporting by Lawrence Delevingne. Editing by Michelle Price and Steve Orlofsky

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa- ... SKBN2C61KD
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REUTERS

"Wall Street slips off record highs, Tesla drops after fatal crash"


Shivani Kumaresan Medha Singh Herbert Lash

April 19, 2021

U.S. stocks closed lower on Monday, slipping from last week's record levels, as investors awaited guidance from first-quarter earnings to justify high valuations, while Tesla Inc shares fell after a fatal car crash.

The electric-car maker slid 3.4% after a Tesla vehicle believed to be operating without anyone in the driver's seat crashed into a tree on Saturday north of Houston, killing two occupants.

The stock was the biggest drag on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index.

An 8.4% drop over the weekend in bitcoin , in which Tesla has an investment, also weighed on its share price.

The S&P 500 was mostly lower, with Microsoft Corp , Amazon.com Inc and Nvidia Corp also weighing on the benchmark index as analysts await results this week and next that form the bulk of earnings season.

Corporate outlooks should indicate to what degree the rally from last year's lows can continue.

Analysts expect first-quarter earnings to have grown 30.9% from a year ago, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

The U.S. economy is poised to boom as consumers hold $2 trillion in savings in excess of pre-pandemic levels, said Doug Peta, chief U.S. investment strategist at BCA Research, adding markets are in pause mode.

"If indeed we do keep grinding higher that would be healthy, that would suggest that the grinding higher is sustainable," Peta said.

"The pullbacks along the way are healthy."

Real estate was the only one of the 11 S&P 500 sectors to post gains.

Nvidia fell 3.5% after the UK government said it would look into the national security implications of Nvidia's purchase of British chip designer ARM Holdings, raising a question mark over the $40 billion deal.

Coca-Cola Co rose 0.6% after the beverage maker trounced estimates for quarterly profit and revenue, benefiting from the easing of pandemic curbs and wide vaccine rollouts.

International Business Machines Corp, another blue-chip company, slipped 0.4% ahead of its results due after the market close.

"The market has had a huge jump to the upside so it needs to take a little bit of rest," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.

"For now it's just a little bit of profit taking as traders await results from big tech names on Wall Street."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 123.04 points, or 0.36%, to 34,077.63.

The S&P 500 lost 22.21 points, or 0.53%, at 4,163.26; while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 137.58 points, or 0.98%, to 13,914.77.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 9.86 billion shares.

A recent retreat in benchmark 10-year Treasury yields from 14-month highs has helped high-flying technology stocks to rebound, while strong economic data has lifted the S&P 500 and the Dow to record levels.

The S&P 500 has gained the past four weeks, its longest winning streak since August 2020.

GameStop Corp jumped 6.3% on the announcement of its chief executive's resignation.

Crypto stocks including miners Riot Blockchain and Marathon Digital each fell more than 8% as bitcoin took a hammering over the weekend.

Bitcoin closed down 0.7%.

Harley-Davidson Inc jumped 9.7% after the motorcycle maker raised it full-year forecast for sales growth.

https://www.reuters.com/business/sp-500 ... 021-04-19/
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RIGZONE

"Oil Prices Drop Amid Broader Selloff"


by Bloomberg|Andres Guerra Luz & Alex Longley

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

(Bloomberg) -- Oil slumped the most in two weeks alongside a broader market rout as a resurgent virus in some of the world’s top oil importers highlighted the uneven road to recovery.

West Texas Intermediate fell 1.5% to the lowest in a week as S&P 500 Index headed for its first back-to-back decline since late March.

The rampant virus spread in countries such as India is casting a shadow on optimism over the global economic rebound.

Annual crude imports in the Asian country fell for the first fiscal year since the late 1990s with refiners cutting run-rates.

“We’ve seen risk appetite reverse,” said Bart Melek, head of commodity strategy at TD Securities.

“Variants are wreaking havoc on some economies, and it’s uncertain how the whole demand picture will evolve.”


The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was set to snap a six-day streak of declines, reducing the appeal of commodities priced in the currency.

Still, the market is a far cry from where it was a year ago today, when an unprecedented crisis saw U.S. benchmark crude futures closing at negative $37.63 a barrel.

The historic plunge came as lockdowns savaged demand and key producers Saudi Arabia and Russia flooded the market in a price war.

A restoration of OPEC+ unity marked by deep supply cuts, as well as vaccine distribution around the world, have helped prices to climb back.

Despite near-term headwinds, there are also points of optimism for an upcoming surge in global oil consumption.

Driving is soaring in the U.K. as more than 60% of its population over 18 has received a first vaccine dose.

Vitol Group, the world’s biggest independent oil trader, expects demand to come roaring back, echoing optimistic views from OPEC and the International Energy Agency.

“Once we get into May, we should start to see the next leg down in the virus, and that will be a tailwind for oil,” said Jay Hatfield, CEO at InfraCap in New York.

“Until we get there, prices are likely to be range-bound.”

In options markets, growing confidence is being reflected in the so-called put skew.

The premium that traders are willing to pay on bearish put options versus call options for global benchmark Brent futures narrowed to the smallest in a month on Tuesday.

Prices

WTI for May delivery, which expired Tuesday, fell 94 cents to settle at $62.44 a barrel.

The more active June contract slid 76 cents to $62.67.

Brent for June fell 48 cents to $66.57 a barrel.

Along with concerns around the lagging demand recovery in some regions, signs of progress being made in talks on the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal raises the prospect of additional Iranian supply further out.

A return to the deal could include lifting U.S. sanctions on the Persian Gulf country’s oil exports.

Meanwhile, U.S. oil stockpiles are expected to have fallen last week, which would extend the streak of drawdowns to four weeks, according to a Bloomberg survey.

The American Petroleum Institute will report its figures later Tuesday ahead of U.S. government data.

In physical markets, front-month WTI’s widening discount to Brent is luring foreign demand for U.S. sour crudes.

Southern Green Canyon is trading at the smallest discount to Nymex crude futures in two months, while other sours like Mars Blend and Poseidon have also strengthened recently.

WTI is trading at a nearly $4-a-barrel premium to Brent compared to $3 at the end of March.

Related news

The price of crude grades that typically yield more fuels such as diesel are starting to weaken in Asia ahead of an increase in OPEC+ supply and amid faltering Indian demand due to a deadly coronavirus wave.

Russia’s energy and finance ministries have reached an agreement on changes to the fuel-tax formula scheduled to be enforced from May 1, with the aim of easing pressure on local retail transport fuel rates amid a rise in global oil prices.

For John Arnold, the legendary Houston trader who made his fortune betting against natural gas prices, the fossil-fuel industry seems finally ready to move on.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc has named Geoffrey Mansfield to run its gasoline desk, following a reshuffle in the energy giant’s trading leadership, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

--With assistance from Sheela Tobben.

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