• Wall Street equities closed higher on May 22, with the DJI edged up by +0.01%, the S&P 500 surged by +0.70%, and the Nasdaq closed up by +1.10%.
• US stocks advanced on Friday, buoyed by positive Q1 corporate earnings results. The market was supported by strength in chip stocks, particularly after Nvidia's 9% surge on Thursday, which boosted confidence in continued strong spending on AI computing.
• The 10-yr UST yields edged down by -1.0 bps to 4.46%, while the 2-yr yields rose by 2.0 bps to 4.93%. Bond yields turned lower on Friday after the University of Michigan’s revised US May inflation expectations downward.
• US Initial claims for state unemployment benefits decreased by 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 215,000 for the week ending May 18. This was below the 220,000 claims forecast by economists polled by Reuters.
• The US May-2024 S&P manufacturing PMI unexpectedly rose by +0.9 to 50.9 (vs. 50 in Apr-2024), while the US May S&P services PMI surged by +3.5 to 54.8 (vs 51.3 in Apr-2024).
• In Euro, the Eurozone May S&P manufacturing PMI rose by 1.7 to a 15-month high of 47.4, exceeding expectations of 46.1. The S&P composite PMI also increased by 0.6 to 52.3, exceeding expectations of 52.0 and marking the fastest expansion in a year.
• Global bond yields were mixed on Friday, the German bund yield declined by -1.3 bps to 2.58%, while the 10-yr UK gilts yield grew by +0.2 bps to 4.26%. The Japanese 10-yr JGB yield surged by +1.01 bps to 2.90%.
