- Investors are focused on corporate earnings and predictions for speedier policy tightening by the Federal Reserve as stocks closed little changed in weak afternoon trade on Monday, while Treasuries edged down.
- After fluctuating between narrow gains and losses on volumes over 20% below the 30-day average on the first trading day following a long holiday weekend, the S&P 500 finished down less than 0.1%. Bank of America was on track for its highest daily gain in over a month, following a run of earnings reports by major lenders like Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Inc. Much of Europe's markets were closed for Easter.
- Treasury yields rose, particularly at the long end of the curve, as investors awaited Fed policymakers' talks this week for further signals on whether the central bank will raise interest rates by a half-point in May to ease inflationary pressures. Natural gas prices in the United States rose to their highest intraday level in more than 13 years, rising inflation concerns. In New York, oil surpassed $108 a barrel.
- Twitter soared after the social media business launched a "poison pill" to stop Elon Musk's unsolicited effort to take the company private, and Musk stated that the board's economic interests are not aligned with shareholders. Didi global, based in Beijing, has seen its price plummet after announcing that it will call an extraordinary general meeting to vote on whether or not to delist its shares from the New York Stock Exchange.
- Investors are still unsure if high inflation has peaked, based on the pattern seen across markets. Supply-chain snarls caused by China's covid restrictions and interruptions to commodity flows caused by the war are fuelling pricing pressures. As the Fed pivots toward aggressive policy tightening to manage the cost of living, fears of a slump in the US economy are mounting.
