S&P 500 rises moderately amid Deutsche Bank crisis and mixed US data.

• The S&P 500 and Dow Jones are up, while the Nasdaq 100 remains under lower pressure.
• US Treasury yields tumbled after the Fed’s decision as investors waited for a rate cut.
• US economic data was mixed, driven by cumulative tightening by the Fed.

US stocks They are trading mixed across the board due to a muted market mood caused by a crisis with Deutsche Bank (DB) in the spotlight. The German bank’s holdings fell 14%, while its CDS, a form of insurance against its default, shot up 200 basis points.

In the North American mid-session, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones rose 0.10% and 0.06%, each standing at 3,951.28 and 3,2119.30, respectively. By contrast, the high-tech Nasdaq Composite lost 0.23% to 11,757.02 points.

S&P Global revealed that business activity in the United States (US) during March improved, above estimates and previous month’s readings. However, the S&P Global Manufacturing PMI fell just short of the expansion, at 49.3, but beat estimates and February data.

For its part, durable goods orders in the United States plummeted 1%, below forecasts of 0.6%, but exceeding the 5% decline of the previous month, reported the US Department of Commerce. Excluding transportation equipment, it was unchanged. Although the report was better than the January data, the cumulative tightening by the Federal Reserve (Fed) could start to weigh on businesses as traders expect a hard landing from the Fed.

By sectors, the three main drivers for Wall Street are Utilities, Consumer Staples and Real Estate, with gains of 2.08%, 1.37% and 1.18%, respectively. The most lagging sectors are Consumer Discretionary, Technology and Finance, which fell 0.79%, 0.45% and 0.34%.

In the currency market, the US Dollar Index (DXY) found a bid, gaining 0.33%, at 103.135, despite falling US Treasury yields. The US 10-year Treasury yield falls six basis points to 3.372%, curbing dollar gains.

Federal Reserve officials were one of the reasons that propped up the dollar, with Bostic and Bullard saying the US central bank needs to control inflation. Bullard expects the Federal Funds Rate (FFR) to peak at around 5.50% – 5.75%, which means that policymakers are three-quarters of a percentage point short. Bostic, President of the Atlanta Fed, said that at the last meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) there was a “debate” about raising rates. HE confirmed that signs of strength in the banking system were the main reason for pulling the trigger.

SP500 daily chart

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