Breakfast on Wall Street: what moved the markets
Wall Street ended lower after a choppy session Friday, as investors responded to a mixed jobs report by booking profits in the technology sector, which has driven the market’s gains so far this year . The U.S. economy added 275,000 jobs in February, beating analysts’ estimates of 190,000. At the same time, the unemployment rate increased to 3.9% versus an expected 3.7%. For the week, the Nasdaq (COMP:IND) slipped 1.2%while the Dow Jones (DJI) and the S&P 500 (SP500) fell 0.9% And 0.3%, respectively. Read Seeking Alpha’s Catalyst Watch for a preview of next week’s major events.
As the Fed’s restrictive monetary policy puts pressure on economic activity and inflation, cutting interest rates “too soon” could cause damage. That’s according to testimony this week from Jay Powell, who reiterated to Congress that there was no evidence the economy was falling into a recession. It might also be appropriate to “start reducing policy stringency at some point this year,” but the central bank needs “greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent.” The head of SA Investing Group, Mott Capital Management, said the Fed chair was staying mostly on script, even though he “seemed to put some distance” around the dot plot from the December FOMC meeting. (101 comments)
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) briefly surpassed its November 2021 high on Tuesday, as demand for the token continued to be fueled by enthusiasm over Bitcoin spot ETFs and the Bitcoin halving event. april. The leading cryptocurrency hit $69,200, propelling its market capitalization up to $1.35 billion, outpacing the entire US high-yield bond market. However, a sharp reversal occurred, likely due to profit-taking, before trading volatility caused Bitcoin to rise. During the same session, spot gold (XAUUSD:CUR) hit a new record high, supported by expectations of a rate cut in June and a shift to safe havens. (133 comments)
There had been concerns about real estate lending and internal controls, but New York Community Bancorp (NYCB) on Wednesday raised more than $1 billion from a group of investors led by the former’s office. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. This has been accompanied by a management shake-up, most notably for Alessandro DiNello, who was named CEO just last week. The investment is “a positive endorsement of the ongoing turnaround,” DiNello said, adding that the bank now has a strong balance sheet and liquidity position. NYCB sank 42% Wednesday, before the news was announced, and after a series of trading halts, stocks resumed to close the session 7.5% higher. The stock is still down more than 60% YTD. (354 comments)
Shares of Novo Nordisk (NVO) hit a record high Thursday after the Danish pharmaceutical maker announced promising results from an early clinical trial of its experimental oral weight loss drug. Amycretin – a long-acting co-agonist of GLP-1 and amylin – helped patients lose 13% of their weight in 12 weeks on the pill, compared to the company’s popular Wegovy, which helped patients lose about 6% of the same amount. of time. At the same time, Novo expects Wegovy to be approved in China this year and is already planning to launch the drug there in capped volumes. (46 comments)
The proposal has been around for years, but the SEC finally adopted new rules that will require many public companies to disclose climate-related risks in their financial statements and annual reports. Chairman Gary Gensler presented the new guidelines as being more related to the risks businesses and investors may face from the effects of climate change, although some of the new rules are focused on how businesses contribute to change climatic. Controversy over the new disclosures resulted in a close 3-2 vote at the SEC and even sparked a legal challenge from a 10-state coalition to overturn the new rules. (15 comments)
