Stocks fall as Treasury yields, Middle east tensions weigh

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By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. stocks fell on Monday, as an early lift from a strong retail sales report gave way to a jump in Treasury yields and concerns about rising tensions in the Middle East.

With the S&P 500 coming off its biggest one-day percentage drop since Jan. 31 in the prior session, stocks opened higher in part after data showed retail sales increased by more than expected in March.

Also providing early support were gains in some financial stocks after their quarterly results, as Goldman Sachs gained 3.1% after its first-quarter profit beat Wall Street estimates, fueled by a recovery in underwriting, deals and bond trading that lifted its earnings per share to the highest since late 2021.

M&T Bank jumped 4.6% after forecasting better-than-expected annual net interest income (NII), while brokerage Charles Schwab advanced 2.2% despite reporting a fall in quarterly profit. The stocks were the three best performers in the S&P 500 financial sector.

But gains faded over concerns the hostilities in the Middle East could continue to flare, and Treasury yields jumped, with the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note hitting its highest level since November.

“You saw a little bit of a bounce this morning because maybe people thought ‘OK it sold off on Friday’ in anticipation of something really bad happening in the Middle East,” said Ken Polcari, managing partner at Kace Capital Advisors in Boca Raton, Florida.

“All the geopolitical stuff is going to cause tension and anxiety in the market, the realization that rates are not going down anytime soon has got to be finally hitting home, that’s what the bond market is telling you, that rates are going to go higher.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 229.73 points, or 0.61%, to 37,752.95, the S&P 500 lost 55.54 points, or 1.08%, to 5,067.88 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 260.93 points, or 1.61%, to 15,914.16.

Israel faced growing pressure from allies to show restraint and avoid an escalation of conflict in the Middle East as it considered how to respond to Iran’s weekend missile and drone attack.

Each of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower, with the rate-sensitive real estate and utilities sectors both falling more than 1 percent.

Stocks have struggled recently, with the S&P 500 suffering two straight weeks of declines and its biggest weekly percentage drop since October last week as investors have pushed back expectations for the timing and size of any rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

Apple fell 2.1% as one of the biggest drags on the S&P 500 after data from research firm IDC showed the company’s smartphone shipments dropped about 10% in the first quarter of 2024.

Tesla slumped 4.9% after the EV maker said it will lay off more than 10% of its global workforce, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

Salesforce stumbled 6.9% after Reuters reported, citing a source, that the customer relations software maker was in advanced talks to acquire Informatica.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones by a 4.5-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 3.28-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The NYSE recorded 34 new 52-week highs and 112 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 32 new highs and 295 new lows.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak in New YorkEditing by Matthew Lewis)