Rates Trade Sideways as South Remains Virus Hotspot

 

Equities continue to march higher despite the virus spikes.  Extending their gains for another day, a tech rally pushed the S&P 500 and DJIA to close higher by 0.4% and 0.5% respectively.  The Nasdaq hit an all-time high as investors banked on continued economic improvement.  Gold rallied to $1,770, finishing at its highest peak since 2012.  Conversely, the dollar experienced a broad selloff throughout Tuesday’s session, with the EUR/USD hitting a weekly high of 1.1350 after the eurozone PMI reading came in stronger than expected.  Treasury yields and swap rates continued to trade sideways as the wait-and-see attitude lingered.  The 10-year Treasury is trading modestly higher this morning at 0.72%.

 

 

COVID-19 cases continue to rise domestically.  The South remains a hotpot with Texas reporting a new high in virus infections at 5,489 new cases yesterday, mere days after the state first passed its 4,000-case mark in the daily tally.  Texas Governor Greg Abbott referred to the virus as “serious,” adding, ”COVID-19 is now spreading at an unacceptable rate in the state of Texas, and it must be corralled.”  Joining Texas, more than half the states are reporting upward trends in the infection rate with fatalities topping 120,000.  Despite the rise, reopening phases currently remain on course.

 

 

New home sales have risen in May.  While April’s figure was revised down to 580,000, May’s level rose by 16.6% to 676,000.  The numbers beat economist expectations with the Northeast experiencing the largest bump in sales by 45.5%.  Median sale prices landed at $317,900 with almost a 6-month supply of homes left to be sold.  In the coming days, May GDP and Q1 personal income figures will be published with economists expecting a decline in both.