Rates Rangebound Despite Weak Economic Data

Risk assets fall on negative retail data, tech earnings. Despite the drop, stocks still had one of their best months on record- the S&P 500 rising nearly 13% during the month of April. A bevy of weak economic data sent risk assets lower on the day though, consumer spending dropping 7.5% in March while weekly jobless claims hit 3.839M. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 fell 1.2% and 0.9% respectively while Treasury yields and swap rates ended a rangebound session marginally higher, the 10-year Treasury yield closing at 0.639%.

Fed expands Main Street Lending Program. Originally created for only smaller and mid-size businesses, the Main Street Lending Program will now also cater to larger businesses. To help challenged businesses, the Fed will now lend to companies with up to 15,000 employees and $5B in annual revenue. The Fed also dropped the lending minimum to $500k from $1M and increased optionality regarding loan choice. The lending facility was introduced earlier this month and will be operational in the near future