Dow went up 92, advancers modestly ahead of decliners & NAZ declined 36 following recent strength. The MLP index was even at 171 & the REIT index traded flattish in the 409s. Junk bond funds hardly budged & Treasuries were sold, raising Treasury yields (more below). Oil drifted lower in the 59s & gold dropped 11 to 1746.
AMJ (Alerian MLP index tracking fund)
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One in 5 Americans are fully vaccinated, according to the latest data published on the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention's (CDC) website. A 3rd of the population has received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. The US is currently administering a 7-day average of 3M vaccine doses per day, as daily case counts remain at levels below the winter peak but in line with the surge seen over the summer. More than 66M Americans (20% of the population) are now fully vaccinated with one shot or 2 shots of vaccines. About 1/3 of the population has received at least one dose of a vaccine. One in 4 of those 18 & older are fully vaccinated & nearly 60% of those 65 & older are fully vaccinated. Following a reported 3.4M vaccine shots given yesterday, the 7-day average of doses administered sits at 3M per day. The rate of new coronavirus cases in the US is well below Jan's peak of about 250K new cases per day but more in line with numbers seen during the summer surge. In Jul, average daily case counts reached nearly 70K. The latest 7-day average of new Covid-19 cases in the US is 66K. The 7-day average of Covid-19 deaths in the US is 978. The nationwide trend in Covid deaths over the past couple days is being impacted by a bulk data release of about 1800 deaths from Oklahoma. These deaths are all currently all being reported for Apr 7, though they may have occurred in weeks or months prior. The Oklahoma State Dept of Health announced that the state is in the process of transitioning to data reporting guidelines in line with CDC requirements, which is the cause for this increase.
1 in 5 Americans are fully vaccinated and a third of the country has received at least one shot, says CDC
US producer prices increased more than expected in Mar, resulting in the largest annual gain in 9½ years, fitting in with expectations for higher inflation as the economy reopens amid an improved public health environment & massive gov funding. The producer price index (PPI) for final demand jumped 1.0% last month after increasing 0.5% in Feb, the Labor Dept said. In the 12 months thru Mar, the PPI surged 4.2%, the biggest year-on-year rise since 2011 & followed a 2.8% advance in Feb. The forecast for PPI was for it increasing 0.5% in Mar & jumping 3.8% year-on-year. The report was delayed after the Bureau of Labor Statistics' website crashed.
U.S. producer prices surge in March
Treasury yields climbed after the Mar producer price index, which measures wholesale price inflation, showed a larger-than-expected increase. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.68% today & the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond advanced to 2.356%. Yields move inversely to prices. The Mar PPI data showed a rise of 1.0%, compared with a projected rise of 0.4%. The majority of the increase came from a jump in prices for final demand goods, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said. The release of the data, originally slated for 8:30, was delayed by a website outage from the BLS. Economists & Federal Reserve officials have repeatedly warned that inflation data will show rising prices in the spring & summer months as the economy reopens & rebounds from the pandemic, but the increases could prove temporary & may not be a cause for concern. Yields rebounded in early trading after falling in the previous session following dovish comments on the economy from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. He called the recovery from the pandemic “uneven” yesterday, signaling a more robust recovery is needed. “The recovery remains uneven and incomplete,” Powell added. “This unevenness that we’re talking about is a very serious issue.” Treasury yields moved rapidly moving higher earlier this year over concerns about inflation, amid the economic recovery from the coronavirus. However, the Federal Reserve has said it will let inflation run hotter if this helps achieve full employment.
Treasury yields climb as producer prices jumpThe rise in the inflation data got the attention of investors, Bond holders are selling which raises yields while stockholders are anxious. The Dow is up although the advance decline ratio is weak. One month of data proves little, but investors don't like to see the jump. Meanwhile Q1 earnings will start rolling out next week.
Dow Jones Industrials
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