The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury climbed to 2.95% today, up 4 basis points on the day. That equals the high yield for 2018 set back in February. The driver this time is an increase in commodity prices that has revived fears of inflation
Granted you can draw a trend line with just two data points, but it doesn’t indicate very strong trend. The Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.84% last night, taking the index to 3117. This comes after the Wednesday gain of 0.8% to 3091.
Worries about smart phone and chip demand hit stocks hard today–and a rise in commodity prices, while good for commodity producers raised fears of higher inflation. As of 3 p.m. New York time, the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index was off 0.79% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was lower by 0.43%.
West Texas Intermediate climbed 3.16% today to $68.80. Futures for May delivery moved over $68 a barrel for the first time in three years. Yesterday the American Petroleum Institute reported a 1.05 million barrel draw down in U.S. inventories. Today the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a drop in crude inventories of 1.1 million barrels. Energy analysts had projected an increase in inventories for the week ended April 13. But it’s not just near-term supply and demand figures that are pushing oil priced higher.
Sure looks like the financial powers in China’s government have one again decided to defend the 3,000 level on the Shanghai Composite Index. The index is down 13% since January 24 and came within 1.4% of the 3,000 level on Wednesday before rallying. That has set off speculation that state-run funds had stepped in to support stock prices at that level.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index rose 1.07% to the highest level in four weeks, pushing above its 100-day moving average for the first time in  month. The Dow Jones Industrial average closed up 0.87% The gains in the index are in spite of continued chaos on the trade front between China and the United States
With the report of first quarter earnings season from Netflix (NFLX) on Monday, April 16, we’ve moved into the heart of earnings season. In most quarters traders began putting on plays for earnings announcements a few weeks before reporting starts. And they’ll keep making new bets over the next three weeks or so. In most quarters buying shares or options on companies about to report makes profitable sense. But this strategy is likely to be even more rewarding this year
Netflix (NFLX) shares were down 1.24% during the day as investors and traders seemed to be positioning themselves for an earnings miss. But the stock took off in after-hours trading, climbing by 6.8%, on the back of  very modest earnings beat for the first quarter and upside guidance for the second quarter. I think that’s a good sign for the market’s performance as earnings season builds momentum.
The unexpected weakness in the normally safe-haven Swiss franc indicates just how uncertain long-term market “truths” have become. What is a safe haven now?
