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U.S. stocks on Tuesday struggled for direction, as investors showed little reaction to the latest retail sales data. Wall Street is looking to keep its momentum going after coming off its 30th record close of the year.
Before the opening bell, the U.S. Census Bureau reported a 0.1% M/M rise in retail sales in May to $703.1B, lower than the expected increase of 0.3%. Moreover, April’s reading of unchanged was revised down to a fall of 0.2%. Meanwhile, core retail sales slipped 0.1% M/M in May, versus an anticipated climb of 0.2%.
The benchmark S&P 500 (SP500) +0.1% was slightly up to 5,480 points. The blue-chip Dow (DJI) was up by a few points to 38,797 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (COMP:IND) -0.1% was lower to 17,848 points.
U.S. Treasury yields were lower after the retail sales report. The longer-end 30-year yield (US30Y) was down 4 basis points to 4.37%, while the 10-year yield (US10Y) was down 6 basis points to 4.23%. The shorter-end more rate-sensitive 2-year yield (US2Y) was down 6 basis points to 4.71%.
See live data on how Treasury yields are doing across the curve at the Seeking Alpha bond page.
Markets on Monday managed to build upon their best weekly gain in over a month, helped by a sustained advance in technology stocks.
“The rally in U.S. equities showed no sign of abating yesterday, as the S&P 500 (+0.77%) closed at an all-time high for the fifth time in six sessions (and for the 30th time this year), taking its YTD gains to +14.75%. The advance was once again led by tech stocks, with the Magnificent 7 (+1.16%) extending its YTD gains to +36.47%,” Deutsche Bank’s Jim Reid said.
Market participants will also be hearing from a slew of Federal Reserve speakers on Tuesday, especially for further comments on monetary policy after the central bank’s interest rate decision last week. The Fed’s updated dot plot came in slightly more hawkish than anticipated.
