As of Tue, Apr 9, Singapore Time zone UTC +8
Dollar Index -0.32%, $97.06
USDJPY, -0.21%, $111.46
EURUSD, +0.33%, $1.1257
GBPUSD, +0.17%, $1.3060
USDCAD, -0.44%, $1.3314
AUDUSD, +0.31%, $0.7122
NZDUSD, +0.13%, $0.6740
U.S. Treasuries finished slightly lower to begin the week, pushing yields higher across the curve. The 2-yr yield and the 10-yr yield increased two basis points each to 2.36% and 2.52%, respectively. The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.32% to 97.04.
Oil prices ($64.39/bbl, +1.29, +2.0%) were also in focus after breaking out to fresh five-month highs on Monday. The move higher was supported by ongoing concerns stemming from the military conflict in OPEC producer Libya.
In Brexit, MPs voted in favour of the Cooper-Letwin bill, which requires the prime minister to seek an extension to article 50, thus staving off the prospect of the UK crashing out of the EU with no deal by accident. They voted to accept the final Lords amendment by 390 votes to 81.
S&P500, +0.10%, 2,895.77
Nasdaq, +0.28%, 7,599.74
Nikkei Futures, -0.59%, 21,773.0
S&P 500 declined as much as 0.4% in the opening minutes of trading on Monday, weighed down by shares of widely-held stocks like Boeing (BA 374.52, -17.41, -4.4%) and General Electric (GE 9.49, -0.52, -5.2%). The benchmark index, however, staged a steady rebound throughout the day to extend its winning streak to eight straight sessions. The S&P 500 finished higher by 0.1%.
A turnaround from many stocks within the S&P 500 information technology (+0.4%), consumer staples (+0.4%), and consumer discretionary (+0.4%) sectors helped the market overcome early weakness that was centered on a slew of downgrades for widely-held stocks. Apple (AAPL 200.10, +3.10, +1.6%), Amazon (AMZN 1849.86, +12.58, +0.7%), and Procter & Gamble (PG 104.97, +1.32, +1.3%) provided strong support for these sectors. PG benefited from Wells Fargo upgrading the stock to Outperform from Market Perform.
Boeing’s problems with the grounding of its 737 Max underpinned key downgrades for Boeing (BA) and Southwest Air (LUV), which is a major U.S. operator of the 737. Bank of America/Merrill Lynch downgraded BA to Neutral from Buy and lowered its price target to $420 from $480. Raymond James downgraded LUV to Market Perform from Outperform.