A currency trader walks near screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 15, 2021. Shares were mixed in Asia on Monday as China reported a variety of data that painted a complicated picture of its recovery from the pandemic.
Currency traders watch computer monitors near screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 15, 2021. Shares were mixed in Asia on Monday as China reported a variety of data that painted a complicated picture of its recovery from the pandemic.
A currency trader watches computer monitors near screens showing the foreign exchange rates at the foreign exchange dealing room in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, March 15, 2021. Shares were mixed in Asia on Monday as China reported a variety of data that painted a complicated picture of its recovery from the pandemic.
In this photo provided by the New York Stock Exchange, trader Gregory Rowe, left, works on the trading floor, Friday, March 12, 2021, in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, which set an all-time high Thursday, was up, lifted by industrial stocks like Boeing and Caterpillar.
FILE – In this Nov. 23, 2020 file photo, a street sign is displayed at the New York Stock Exchange in New York. Stocks were mixed in early trading on Monday, March 15, 2021, as investors sifted a mixed bag of data from China. Wall Street continues to eye the bond market, where yields gave back some of last week’s gains.
Stocks were mixed in afternoon trading on Monday as Wall Street continues to eye the bond market, where yields pulled back a bit from Friday’s sharp increase.
The S&P 500 index was down less than 0.1% at 12:46 p.m. Eastern as rising technology and consumer discretionary shares were offset by declines in banks and energy stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 13 points, or less than 0.1%, to 32,792. Meanwhile the Nasdaq Composite was up slightly, rising 0.2%.
Investors’ focus remains on the recovery of the U.S. and global economies from the coronavirus pandemic. The $1.9 trillion aid package for the U.S. economy has lifted investors’ confidence in a strong recovery from the pandemic in the second half of the year, but also raised concerns about a potential jump in inflation.
President Joe Biden also laid out a plan, in a prime-time speech last Thursday, to expand vaccine eligibility to all Americans by May 1, which should also translate into faster economic growth.
Rising interest rates continue to be a key concern for investors following the sudden jump over the last month in bond yields. Rates are not yet at a concerning level, and both the markets and economy can easily digest them, said Yung-Yu Ma, chief investment strategist at BMO Wealth Management.
“The question ultimately becomes how well markets can digest and stay the course on the idea that these increases are temporary,” he said. “As well as coming to terms with the idea that temporary might be three or four quarters.”
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