As investors weighed what it would take to finally reverse the Federal Reserve's stance on rates after a survey of loan demand showed signs of credit tightening, US equities eked out a small gain while Treasuries fell.
The S&P 500 finished the day little changed after fluctuating between gains and losses in a quiet session on Monday. The index gained 1.9% on Friday, snapping its longest losing streak since February. The Nasdaq 100 gained 0.2% as AI-capable chipmakers Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia rose alongside Alphabet, the parent company of Google.
The dollar index recovered losses after the Fed's Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey indicated that the credit market was slightly tightening while business loan demand was weakening. The policy-sensitive two-year Treasury yield increased to 4.01%. Syndicate desks anticipate up to $35 billion in corporate bond sales volume this week, while Apple Inc. has begun a $5.25 billion sale.
Since the beginning of April, US stocks have traded sideways as better-than-expected corporate earnings have offset concerns about an economic slowdown and the health of regional banks. PacWest Bancorp rose 3.6% while lending peers fell 2.8%, according to the KBW Regional Banking Index.