The 5-year and 30-year Treasury yields inverted this morning
It's a sluggish morning on Wall Street, with futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) all turning lower in the last hour before the bell. Investors are looking ahead to a busy slate of economic data; the U.S. trade deficit in goods fell 0.8% to $106.6 billion in February, while Friday's jobs report will be a focal point all week. Bond yields are in focus too, after the 5-year and 30-year Treasury yield inverted earlier this morning for the first time since 2006.
Elsewhere, cryptocurrencies are rallying this morning, with Bitcoin (BTC) holding above $47,000, while oil prices are plummeting amid demand concerns. At last check, May-dated crude was down 5% at $108.16 per barrel.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- The gaming stock bouncing back.
- The newest Market Mashup features Tradier's Lex Luthringshausen on IV, options strategies, and more!
- Plus, BYND downgraded; UBER wins London license; and underperforming FL slides.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
- The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw over 1.7 million call contracts traded on Friday, and 897,405 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.50, and the 21-day moving average stayed at 0.57.
- Piper Sandler downgraded Beyond Meat Inc (NASDAQ:BYND) to "underweight" from "neutral," with a price-target cut to $29 from $50. The firm cited increasing competition within the plant-based industry, as well as lower expectations for the company's McDonald's (MCD) launch. BYND is down 6% premarket.
- Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE:UBER) won a 30-month license to operate in London, after city regulators revoked its license twice. On the charts, UBER has been climbing since its early-March 19-month low. Before the bell, UBER is up 0.5%.
- The shares of Foot Locker, Inc. (NYSE:FL) are down 1.7% in electronic trading, after Cowen and Company downgraded the stock to "market perform" from "outperform," with a price-target cut of $8 to $34. Year-to-date, the equity is down 30.1%.
- There will be no more economic data today.
Asian Markets Eye Covid Outbreaks
Asian markets were mixed on Monday, despite cooling oil prices. Investors also sifted through fresh economic data out of China, which showed industrial profits grew 5% year-over-year from January to February, and monitored the Covid-19 outbreak that led the country to impose a two-stage lockdown that started today. Nonetheless, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 1.3%, after food delivery name Meituan posted a quarterly revenue beat. Meanwhile, China’s Shanghai Composite was above breakeven with a 0.07% gain, while South Korea’s Kospi slipped just below breakeven with a 0.02% loss. Elsewhere, Japan’s Nikkei settled 0.7% lower.
European markets are higher, with investors closely monitoring Russia-Ukraine developments after U.S. President Joe Biden said Russian President Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power." They are also anticipating several economic indicators out of the U.S. this week, including private payrolls data and the monthly jobs report. At last check, the German DAX is up 2.2%, France’s CAC 40 is 2% higher, and London’s FTSE 100 is eyeing a 0.7% pop.