Stocks Are Mixed as Earnings Roll In; Yields Rise: Markets Wrap

paced losses among tech companies in the S&P 500, which had fluctuated for much of Wednesday’s session as traders sifted through earnings from some of the world’s biggest banks.

The Federal Reserve said in its Beige Book that activity has picked up pace amid an improvement in consumer spending.

— two of the most gilded names in finance — kicked off bank earnings season with revenue windfalls from trading and dealmaking, defying warnings from within the industry that good times couldn’t last.

“It’s almost as if you need to exceed those expectations in order to see a more pronounced reaction from markets.”Although policymakers at the Federal Reserve expect a bump in consumer prices to be short-lived, many traders disagree, with fears of faster CPI playing out across duration-heavy assets from bonds to tech stocks.Treasuries extended gains after the government’s auction of 30-year bonds was greeted with strong demand.Meanwhile, Bitcoin jumped to an all-time high as the mood in cryptocurrencies turned bullish before Coinbase Global Inc.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average remain near record highs at the end of March, as the current stock market rally continues.

European Union governments reached a deal on technical standards for so-called vaccine passports, advancing the effort to boost travel to and within the bloc in time for the summer season.Envoys meeting in Brussels unanimously supported a draft legal text setting out specifics for “digital green certificates,” according to a diplomat familiar with the private meeting.

Every major direct listing has so far opened significantly above its reference price, with Roblox shares debuting at $64 each –- 42% higher than the number set by the exchange.Coinbase shares changed hands at a roughly $90 billion valuation in early March, Bloomberg News reported at the time, in what was one of the last chances for investors to trade its private stock before the company went public.Digital Currency Group founder Barry Silbert, who’s built an empire that spans the crypto world, tweeted Tuesday that his shares would definitely not be changing hands at the reference price, in an early sign that the stock was set for a pop at the open.Direct listings are an alternative to a traditional initial public offering that has only been deployed a handful of times.

It was the scene of a dramatic “flash crash” last year when the yield program was announced, illustrating the potential for turmoil.While the Reserve Bank of Australia has largely tamed markets since then, as the economy’s recovery strengthens, wagers against the RBA’s ability to keep yields lower look poised to rise.“If inflation expectations do start to un-anchor, then I think the RBA will be one of the first central banks to be tested by bond traders,” said Shaun Roache, an economist at S&P Global Ratings in Singapore.

. The company will get access to five new credit facilities; the state will buy an ownership stake of more than 5% and receive 14.6 million warrants to buy more shares.“In spite of the dilution that we see, we still see a path for this company to be worth, at least, in excess of C$40 when the Covid situation and the airline situation normalizes a bit more,” Paul Younes, an analyst at Montreal-based Letko, said in an interview on BNN Bloomberg Television.

Fund managers are trimming exposure to Russia and Ukraine on fears that years of tensions could finally erupt into outright war, bringing economic ruin for Ukraine and more sanctions on Russia.

-JPMorgan Chase & Co’s first-quarter results on Wednesday laid bare the challenge big banks face in this phase of the pandemic, where stimulus programs have left individuals and businesses in good financial shape but so flush with cash that few of them need loans.

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