Wall Street gyrates, Treasury yields spike on robust data, solid earnings
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK (Reuters) — U.S. stocks wavered and benchmark Treasury yields surged on Tuesday as robust economic data and strong third-quarter earnings appeared to make the case for the Federal Reserve to keep restrictive policies in place for longer than expected.
All three major U.S. stock indexes were last modestly lower, with interest rate sensitive megacap shares weighing the heaviest.
Semiconductor shares came under pressure after the Biden administration announced plans to halt shipments to China of more advanced artificial intelligence chips.
The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index was last down 0.9%.
Consensus-topping retail sales data along with solid profit beats from Bank of America and Goldman Sachs added to a growing mountain of evidence that the United States economy is chugging along despite the central bank's attempts to rein in inflation by raising interest rates.
«The retail sales report was quite strong, and definitely an indication that the consumer is doing well,» said Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at GLOBALT in Atlanta. «So the question is, how does the market react to that? Is good news good news or is good news bad news?»
«You're seeing a little bit of confusion there because while it probably shouldn't affect the Fed's calculus, you never know,» Martin added.
Market participants were also eyeing the unfolding humanitarian crisis arising from the Israel-Hamas conflict as U.S. President Joe Biden heads to the region.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 71.75 points, or 0.21%, to 33,912.79, the S&P 500 lost 9.29 points, or 0.21%, to 4,364.34 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 48.86 points, or 0.36%, to 13,519.13.
European stocks dipped as a spate of downbeat earnings and
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