America’s retirement planners senior planner Ken Moraif in today’s markets and investing in technology.
US stock markets opened mixed on Monday morning, with bond yields rising after the Senate approved12 President Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I: DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGE | 31679.43 | +183.13 | + 0.58% |
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 3852.75 | +10.81 | + 0.28% |
| I: COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITION INDEX | 12918.927601 | -1.22 | -0.01% |
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 148 points, or 0.47%, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.09% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.3%.
In a 50-49 vote, the Senate passed its own version of Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion bill, which limits $ 1,400 checks to those earning $ 75,000 a year or less and withdraws $ 15 from the minimum wage, among other things. The US House of Representatives will vote on the measure as early as Tuesday.
The approval of the bill in the upper house rekindled concerns about inflation, causing the 10-year Treasury’s yield to briefly rise above 1.60%, before dropping to 1.58%.
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In equities, mega-cap technology stocks declined as the increase in bond yields threatened their growth prospects.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QQQ | INVESCO QQQ NASDAQ 100 | 308.67 | -0.01 | -0.00% |
Elsewhere, the shares of Microsoft Corp. were in focus after a cyber attack on their Exchange e-mail software, believed to be run by Chinese hackers, infected tens of thousands of customers.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSFT | MICROSOFT CORP. | 231.33 | -0.27 | -0.12% |
Walt Disney Co. will reopen its California reduced-capacity theme park starting April 1.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DIS | THE WALT DISNEY CO. | 196.90 | +7.06 | + 3.72% |
Meanwhile, the shares of GameStop Corp. rose after Chewy founder Ryan Cohen was tasked with leading the company’s e-commerce shift.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GME | GAMESTOP | 147.35 | +10.41 | + 7.60% |
In mergers and acquisitions, General Electric Co. is approaching a deal worth more than $ 30 billion to combine its aircraft leasing business with Irish Aercap Holdings NV, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the subject.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GE | GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. | 13.92 | +0.34 | + 2.52% |
Apollo Global Management agreed with retirement services company Athene Holdings for $ 11 billion in shares. The deal, which pays a 17% premium on Athene’s closing price on Friday, gives shareholders 1,149 Apollo shares for each Athene share they own.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATH | ATHENE HOLDING LTD | 52.72 | +3.82 | + 7.81% |
In commodities, Brent crude oil hit $ 71.38 a barrel overnight after Houthis from Yemen launched a drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities. Since then, prices have declined, with Brent trading at 48 cents at $ 68.88 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude, in turn, fell 40 cents to $ 65.69 a barrel.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| USE | UNITED STATES OIL FUND LP | 44.15 | -0.31 | -0.70% |
Elsewhere in the commodity complex, gold fell $ 5.40 to $ 1,693.10 an ounce.
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Foreign markets were mixed.
In Europe, Germany’s DAX 30 was up 1.69%, France’s CAC 40 was up 1.12% and Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.23%.
Asian markets, in turn, were under pressure, with China’s Shanghai Composite falling 2.3%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng falling 1.92% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 losing 0.42%