Spencer Platt
U.S. stocks on Monday added to their gains while longer-end Treasury yields moved slightly lower after a closely-watched 20-year auction traded through.
Wall Street’s major averages had risen earlier, extending a three-week win streak that has seen the benchmark S&P 500 (SP500) post gains in every day of November so far barring two.
This week will be quiet in terms of news flow as the bulk of the third quarter earnings season is done, though Nvidia’s results on Tuesday will garner significant attention. The economic calendar is largely empty and the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday could also contribute to light volume.
The Nasdaq Composite (COMP.IND) led gains among the main indexes, rising 1.00% to 14,267.35 points in afternoon trade. The tech-heavy index was also buoyed by Microsoft (MSFT) which hit a record high after the tech giant brought on former OpenAI co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman to lead a new advanced artificial intelligence team. The hiring came after a shock move by OpenAI’s board on Friday to oust Altman as top boss.
The S&P 500 (SP500) was higher by 0.60% to 4,541.29 points, while the blue-chip Dow (DJI) added 0.49% to 35,119.13 points. The former is coming off its best weekly win-streak since late July, largely driven by a general market consensus that the Federal Reserve is done hiking interest rates.
Of the 11 S&P sectors, nine were in the green, led by Technology. Utilities and Consumer Staples were the two losers.
Longer-end Treasury yields inched lower, after the $16B 20-year note auction dew a high yield of 4.78% versus the when issued yield of 4.79%. The results indicated solid demand and was in stark contrast to the $24B 30-year auction eleven days ago that tailed by its biggest margin ever.
The 30-year yield (US30Y) was now down 4 basis points to 4.56%, while the 10-year yield (US10Y) was down 3 basis points to 4.41%. The shorter-end more rate-sensitive 2-year yield (US2Y) was little changed at 4.90%.
See live data on how Treasury yields are doing across the curve at the Seeking Alpha bond page.
“Solid 20-year UST auction stopping through by 1bps with indirects at 74%, direct bidder 16.5%. It should bring some more bull-flattening of the yield curve ahead of the Thanksgiving holidays,” Althea Spinozzi, senior fixed income strategist at Saxo Bank, said on X (formerly Twitter).
Turning back to equities, U.S.-listed Argentinian stocks grabbed some of the spotlight on Monday, staging a broad-based advance after far-right libertarian Javier Milei won the country’s presidential election on Sunday. The Global X MSCI Argentina ETF (ARGT) surged around 12%. Meanwhile, U.S.-listed shares of YPF (YPF) soared about 39% after Milei’s victory sparked speculation that the state-owned energy firm could benefit from economic reforms.
Among other active movers, Boeing (BA) was among the top percentage losers on the S&P 500 (SP500), after the planemaker was upgraded by Deutsche Bank on the expectation of higher cash flow from rising aircraft deliveries.
