Dow was off 91, advancers slightly ahead of decliners & NAZ fell 124. The MLP index went up 2+ to the 202s & the REIT index pulled back 4+ to the 485s. Junk bonds funds crawled higher & Treasuries rose in price, lowing yields (more below). Oil rebounded 4+ to the 108s & gold jumped 23 to 1941.
AMJ (Alerian MLP index tracking fund)
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US companies hired employees at a healthy clip in Mar, suggesting the labor market is still strong & that businesses are eager to fill a near-record number of open positions, according to the ADP National Employment Report. Companies added 455K jobs in Mar, slightly above the 450K gain that was predicted but below the revised 486K increase in Feb. The latest hiring figures bring Q1 jobs total to 1.45M for the private sector. Job gains were broad-based across sectors. Service-providing industries added 377K new jobs last month, with the largest increases in leisure & hospitality (161K), education & health services (72K), professional & business services (61K) & trade, transportation & utilities (49K). Goods-producing industries, meanwhile, saw payrolls grow by 79K, with the bulk of the gains in manufacturing (54K) & construction (15K). Businesses of all sizes saw gains last month: Large businesses, which employ more than 500 workers, saw an increase of 177K, while medium businesses, which have 50-499 workers, added 188K. Small businesses hired 90K employees in Mar. "Businesses are hiring, specifically among the service providers which had the most ground to make up due to early pandemic losses," said Nela Richardson, chief economist at ADP. "However, a tight labor supply remains an obstacle for continued growth in consumer-facing industries."
US companies added more jobs than expected in March, ADP report shows
Americans are more worried about inflation than at any point since 1985, according to a new poll. The Gallup survey shows that rising consumer prices are the top economic concern for Americans, with 17% of respondents calling the recent inflation spike the "nation's most important problem." That's up from 8% in Jan & 10% in Feb. In all, a majority of Americans – 59% – said they worry about cost-of-living expenses a "great deal," according to the poll, which was conducted Mar 1-18 with 1017 adults. The margin of error is 4 percentage points. The concern is more pronounced among lower-income families: 63% of families earning $40K or more said they were very concerned, compared with 58% of those earning $100K or more. There was also a political divide, with 79% of Reps saying they were seriously worried about inflation, versus 35% of Dems. "Inflation doesn't dominate Americans' perceptions of the most important problem facing the country today the way it did in the early 1980s, but it's more top-of-mind than it's been in over three decades and appears to be taking a toll on Americans' broader economic confidence," Gallup said. Consumer prices in the US rose 7.9% in Feb from the previous year, the Labor Dept reported earlier this month. That marked the fastest pace since 1982 when inflation hit 8.6%.
DRAINED: Americans more worried about key issue than at any point in decades
Treasury yields were mostly, with investors keeping an eye on the spreads between bonds, after the 5-year & 30-year rates flipped at the start of the week. The yield on the 5-year Treasury moved up 2 basis points to 2.51% while the rate on the the 30-year Treasury bondw was slightly higher at 2.529%. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose just over 1 basis point to 2.415%. Yields move inversely to prices & 1 basis point is equal to 0.01%. The yield on the 5-year Treasury rose above that of the 30-year US gov bond on Mon for the first time since 2006, but that inversion faded yesterday. Yield curve inversions have historically occurred prior to recessions, though it is the spread between the 2-year & 10-year that is considered more important by traders. This spread effectively became flat on yesterday. Today, the 2-year Treasury yield was slightly lower while the 10-year rose, easing concerns about an inversion. The Russia-Ukraine war has been driving already rising inflation higher, which investors are concerned could weigh on economic growth. Sentiment was boosted yesterday following negotiations between Russia & Ukraine officials in Turkey, at which Russia's deputy defense minister claimed Moscow had decided to “drastically” cut back its military activity near Ukraine's capital. Russia had begun to move some of its troops away from the city of Kyiv to elsewhere in Ukraine, but Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby warned yesterday that these movements do not amount to a retreat.
10-year Treasury yield ticks higher as investors keep watch over bond spreads
Dow Jones Industrials
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