Newsletter Thursday, September 19

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK (Reuters) -A gauge of global stocks was lower for a third straight session on Monday, while U.S. Treasury yields rose after a sharp drop in the prior week and ahead of comments from multiple Federal Reserve officials.

On Wall Street, stocks were holding around the unchanged mark after the and hit record levels multiple times last week.

Economic data showed manufacturing activity in the New York region improved in June, but remained in contraction territory with a reading of negative 6. Investors will closely eye retail sales data for May on Tuesday for signs of consumer health.

“There really isn’t an appetite to be a real seller right now because there is a perception that momentum is going to continue, and stocks are going to continue winning,” said Daniela Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com.

“The fact that the rally has been driven mostly by a select few stocks, that would mean that the pullback could be even deeper.”

The fell 46.49 points, or 0.12%, to 38,542.45, the S&P 500 lost 5.26 points, or 0.10%, to 5,426.46 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 28.22 points, or 0.16%, to 17,660.54.

Goldman Sachs raised its year-end S&P 500 price target to 5,600 from the prior 5,200, while Evercore ISI lifted its price target to 6,000 from 4,750.

U.S. equities had pushed to record levels last week following several inflation readings that indicated price pressures may be ebbing, even as the Fed adjusted its economic projections to only include one rate cut for the year.

In Europe, stocks edged lower, giving up earlier gains spurred by a rebound in bank and tech shares. The index fell 0.09%, while Europe’s broad index fell 1.54 points, or 0.08%

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe fell 1.80 points, or 0.23%, to 795.46, on pace for its third straight session of declines.

European shares slipped again after heavy losses last week, with the STOXX 600 down about 2.4%, its biggest weekly percentage drop since October, as French President Emmanuel Macron called a snap election hoping to fend off gains by far right and leftist groups against his centrist administration.

U.S. Treasury yields rose, with the 10-year note coming off its biggest weekly drop of the year in response to inflation data that boosted hopes the Fed would be able to cut rates by at least 25 basis points in September.

Markets are currently pricing in a 64.1% chance for a 25 basis point cut in September, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool, down from about 70% in the prior session.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes rose 7.2 basis points to 4.285%, from 4.213% late on Friday. The yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, rose 5.5 basis points to 4.7401%, from 4.685% late on Friday.

Investors will hear from a host of Fed officials this week, including Governor Lisa Cook, Philadelphia President Patrick Harker and New York President John Williams on Monday.

Central banks in Australia, Norway and the UK are all expected to leave their interest rates unchanged at meetings this week, though the Swiss National Bank (SNB) could ease given the recent strength of the Swiss franc.

The , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.01% at 105.54, with the euro up 0.13% at $1.0714.

Against the Japanese yen, the dollar strengthened 0.31% at 157.85, while Sterling weakened 0.06% at $1.2674.

gained 1.22% to $79.41 a barrel and rose to $83.41 per barrel, up 0.99% on the day, as hopes for a boost to demand from the summer driving season in the northern hemisphere offset Chinese data that underscored a bumpy recovery for the world’s biggest crude importer.



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