Daily Market Color March 4, 2021Powell Not Able to Ease Investors’ Anxiety Stocks and bonds slump on inflation worries U.S. Treasurys sold off today after Chairman Powell’s remarks today did not ease investors’ inflation concerns. The 10yr Treasury finished up 8bps on the day at 1.56%. Equities didn’t fare much better, the S&P had its lowest close in five weeks (-1.34%), while the tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 2.11%, officially erasing all gains from earlier 2021. U.S. jobless claims increase U.S. jobless claims increased from the prior week to 745,000. The slight increase was below economists’ expectations of 750,000 claims. At today’s WSJ Jobs summit, Chairman Powell commented that there is “significant ground to cover” in the labor market due to pandemic effects. OPEC keeping supply tight OPEC+ has decided to limit oil production in April, which sent oil to the highest levels in nearly two years. WTI futures increased 4.2% with the price per barrel at $63.83. The increase in oil prices has added to investors’ concerns about near-term inflationary pressures.
