U.S. stocks rose intraday Monday, driven by shares of financial companies as investors dumped government bonds, pushing Treasury yields higher. Major indexes erased earlier losses, with the Dow Jones falling 0.1% to 25044. The S&P 500 added 0.2%, led higher by shares of financial companies. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.2%. Treasury prices remained under pressure Monday amid concerns that international appetite for U.S. debt could wane, after White House comments on monetary policy sent the dollar and government bond prices sliding last week. That gave ammunition to the financial sector in the S&P 500, which was the biggest gainer, advancing 1.4%. Shares of banks like Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America led the way. Bank stocks tend to benefit when Treasury yields rise because higher interest rates lift banks' net interest margins, a key measure of their lending profitability. Stock investors have been cautiously optimistic in recent days amid strong earnings results and economic data. Though the U.S. continues to spar with other countries on trade, the back-and-forth hasn't weighed broadly on domestic stock indexes. The S&P 500 is up about 5% this year. Corporate earnings so far have come in above expectations, with 87% of companies posting stronger-than-expected profits and 77% beating revenue expectations, according to FactSet. The US gold price fell 0.6% to 1224.0 US$/Oz
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