Today's News
U.S. stocks on Friday kicked off the month of March on a positive note, after largely negative manufacturing data and a downward revision to consumer sentiment solidified bets that the Federal Reserve would start cutting interest rates soon. The Nasdaq Composite gained 1.14% to notch a new record closing high at 16,274.94 points. It earlier hit an all-time intraday peak at 16,302.24. The benchmark S&P 500 ended above the 5,100 points mark for the first time ever, advancing 0.80% to settle at 5,137.08. The blue-chip Dow added 0.23% to conclude at 39,087.38 points. Of the 11 S&P sectors, eight ended in the green, led by Technology. Utilities topped the losers. All three major averages on Thursday posted a four-month win streak. For February alone, the S&P climbed 5.10%, with the gains largely driven by a favorable earnings season and a relentless advance in technology and artificial.
Gold futures scored their best-ever settlement Friday, as signs of a softening economy reinforced bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates later this year, sending U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar index lower. Data showed U.S. manufacturing slumped further in February, as orders, production, and employment all contracted, and the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment survey fell for the first time in three months. Earlier data this week indicated the annual increase in U.S. inflation in January was the smallest in nearly three years. Treasury yields fell across the board Friday: The two-year yield lost 11 bps to 4.53%, the benchmark 10-year yield fell 7 bps to 4.18%, and the 30-year yield shed 5 bps to 4.33%.
Bitcoin is set to rise 21.7% on a week-over-week basis, as its bull run continued this week, leading it to go past the $60K mark, for the first time in over two years. During the week, the world's biggest cryptocurrency touched $62.8K, as its market cap surged to $1.23T. In the past couple of months, institutional demand has majorly driven market activity, particularly through new ETF inflows, but retail participation is starting to resurge.
Social media platform Reddit is looking for a valuation of up to $6.5B in its eagerly anticipated initial public offering (IPO), the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The company is planning to target a price range for the IPO of $31 per share to $34 per share. The $6.5B valuation is far lower than that achieved by Reddit in its most recent fundraising round in August 2021. Back then, the company had raised up to $700M in a round that valued it at over $10B on a post-money basis. Reddit filed for an IPO last Thursday, in which it said it intends to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "RDDT."
Volatility watch - Options trading volume is still elevated on SoundHound AI (SOUN, Financial) and Barclays (BCS, Financial). The list of highly-shorted stocks heading into the new week includes Beyond Meat (BYND, Financial) and Cinemark Holdings (CNK, Financial). The most overbought stocks per their 14-day relative strength index include Viking Therapeutics (VKTX, Financial), Vivani Medical Inc (VANI, Financial), and Caret Holdings Inc (ROOT, Financial). The most oversold stocks per their 14-day Relative Strength Index include AN2 Therapeutics (ANTX, Financial), Semilux International (SELX, Financial), and SSR Mining (SSRM, Financial). Earnings watch - Notable companies due to report include Sea Limited (SE, Financial), GitLab (GTLB, Financial) and Stitch Fix (SFIX, Financial).
