• Wall Street equities closed lower on May 16, with the DJI edged down by -0.10%, the S&P 500 fell by -0.21%, and the Nasdaq closed down by -0.26%.
• US stocks retreated Thursday afternoon after the Dow briefly hit 40,000 for the first time ever. The market initially rallied on weaker-than-expected unemployment claims, but comments from Fed officials calling for prolonged higher interest rates lifted bond yields and dragged stocks down. Additionally, persistent inflation concerns weighed on sentiment, with the April import price index ex-petroleum seeing its largest rise in 16 months.
• The 10-yr UST yields rose by +2.0 bps to 4.38%, while 2-yr yields surged by +5.0 bps to 4.78%. T-notes fell due to a 16-month high in April's import price index ex-petroleum and Fed officials comments on maintaining higher interest rates longer.
• US weekly initial jobless claims decreased by -10,000 to 222,000, indicating a slightly weaker labor market than the anticipated 220,000.
• In April, US housing starts increased by 5.7% MoM to 1.36 million, falling short of the anticipated 1.421 million. However, building permits, a proxy for future construction, unexpectedly declined by 3.0% MoM to a 15-month low of 1.44 million, below expectations of 1.48 million.
• MeanwhileinAsia, Japan's GDP declined by 0.5% QoQ in 1Q24, below market expectations of a 0.4% decrease, following a downwardly revised flat growth in the prior quarter, as per preliminary data.
• Global bond yields were mixed on Thursday, the German bund yield rose by +3.7 bps to 2.46%, while the 10-yr UK gilts yield finished up by +1.3 bps to 4.07%. The Japanese 10-yr JGB yield closed down by -2.90 bps 0.93%.
