Stocks exit early losses, end higher as technology recovers – San Bernardino Sun

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA

Shares started to slide early and closed higher on Tuesday as Wall Street greeted more modest moves in the bond market after recent strong Treasury yields weighed on the market. .

The S&P 500 index gained 0.9% after falling 0.7% at the start of the session. Selling eased in the afternoon, with tech stocks reversing course and moving higher. The benchmark index has experienced five consecutive losses and has not had a winning day since the first trading day of the year, when it set an all-time high.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5% and the tech Nasdaq was up 1.4%. Shares of smaller companies also rebounded, pushing the Russell 2000 1.1% higher.

Bond yields, which have been strong since the start of the year, have fallen lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 1.74% from 1.77% late Monday. Yields affect interest rates on mortgages and other consumer loans.

“Once rates start to stabilize, it starts to cause some investors to worry about rates comfortably going up, then bid back a bit by technology,” said Sameer Samana, marketer. Senior Global School said. Strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “We don’t need rates to fall, we just need them to level off or move at a much slower rate.”

The S&P 500 rose 42.78 points to 4,713.07 and the Dow added 183.15 points to 36,252.02. The Nasdaq rose 210.62 points to 15,153.45, while the Russell 2000 rose 22.85 points to 2,194. The indexes are all in the red so far this month.

Traders are trying to adjust to how the market and the economy will handle the likely higher interest rates from the Federal Reserve this year. That has weighed on expensive tech stocks, which become less attractive to investors as interest rates rise.

Tech stocks have been volatile since late Monday, when a late-afternoon rally for the sector trimmed much of the market’s losses. Apple rose 1.7% and chip maker Nvidia 1.5%.

Media stocks and a mix of retailers and other companies that rely on direct consumer spending rose. Facebook’s parent Meta platform is up 1.9% and Gap is up 3%.

Future energy increases. U.S. crude oil prices rose 3.8%, helping to boost energy stockpiles. Exxon Mobil rose 4.2%.

Utilities and other investments deemed less risky fell.

The Fed said it would accelerate a reduction in bond purchases, which have helped keep interest rates low. Markets now place the probability of the Fed raising short-term rates by at least a quarter in March at around 75%. A month ago, it was about 36%.

The central bank is easing support for the US economy and financial markets as businesses and consumers face persistently rising inflation.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on Tuesday acknowledged that high inflation has emerged as a serious threat to the Fed’s goal of helping to get more Americans back to work and that the Fed will raise interest rates more than planned. current if needed to prevent the price from rising. Powell was speaking at a Senate Banking Committee hearing, which is considering his nomination for a second four-year term.

The World Bank downgraded its forecast for the global economy, partly because supply chain problems have fueled inflation. The 189-nation anti-poverty agency forecasts worldwide economic growth of 4.1 percent this year, down from the 4.3 percent increase it forecast last June. It also fell short of the 5.5% expansion it estimates for the global economy in 2021.

Investors will receive two key inflation reports this week from the Labor Department. The consumer price index for December will be released on Wednesday and an update on how inflation is impacting commodity prices for consumers. An index based on US wholesale prices for December will be released on Thursday and provide another update on how inflation is affecting costs for businesses.

Wall Street is also tracking the rising number of coronavirus infections globally to gauge the economic impact. China, the world’s second-largest economy, has placed a third city on lockdown because of the latest surge.

Big companies, including automakers like Toyota, have been counting on a rebound in supplies of semiconductors and other products from China and the rest of Asia, as injection efforts strains and other coronavirus prevention has improved. The recent surge in infections caused by the omicron variant of the coronavirus has shaken such hopes.