US markets end lower as bond yields rise

19 Mar 2021 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Thursday as spike in treasury yields renewed concerns about the outlook for high-growth companies. The yield on the benchmark ten-year note jumped above 1.7 percent to reach its highest levels since January of 2020, while the thirty-year bond yield shot up to its highest levels since last summer. Yields skyrocketed despite yesterday’s assurances by the Federal Reserve that interest rates will remain at near-zero levels through 2023. The jump in yields to concerns that the Fed’s apparent willingness to let inflation accelerate more than normal will reduce the appeal of bonds.

On the economic data front, the Labor Department released a report showing an unexpected increase in first-time claims for US unemployment benefits in the week ended March 13th. The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 770,000, an increase of 45,000 from the previous week's revised level of 725,000. The rebound came as a surprise to participants, who had expected jobless claims to edge down to 700,000 from the 712,000 originally reported for the previous week. However, the unexpected increase in jobless claims was partly due to jump in claims in Texas due to the impact of Winter Storm Uri.

Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 153.07 points or 0.46 percent to 32,862.3, Nasdaq dropped 409.03 points or 3.02 percent to 13,116.17 and S&P 500 was down by 58.66 points or 1.48 percent to 3,915.46.

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