Stock Market Calm Rekindles Debate Over Fed Tightening
For some investors, markets are almost too quiet.
Stocks have regained ground from the beating they took during last year's interest-rate increases. Volatility has subsided to its lowest levels since 2021. That is despite this year's hikes, expectations for another 0.25-point increase and worries that turmoil in regional banks will slow lending and contract the economy.
The Air Has Come Out of the Dollar
The U.S. economy no longer looks so exceptional. That is bad news for the dollar.
The greenback has fallen about 8.6% from a peak in September, as tracked by the WSJ Dollar Index, and is experiencing its worst start to the year since 2018.
China's Consumers Lead Recovery in April
SINGAPORE-Activity in China's services sector grew at a healthy pace in April, a sign that Chinese consumers continue to drive the country's economic rebound as its factory sector quickly decelerates.
China's official purchasing managers index for the nonmanufacturing sectors of the economy-that is, services and construction-came in at 56.4 in April, a weaker reading than March's 58.2 level but still comfortably above the 50 mark that separates expansion from contraction, according to data released Sunday by China's National Bureau of Statistics.
Big Tech's Rebound Plays to Individual Investors' Growth-Stock Bets
Shares of large U.S. technology companies are powering the broader market higher again, vindicating many individual investors who bet big on growth stocks.
Together, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Google parent Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., Microsoft Corp., Netflix Inc., Nvidia Corp. and Tesla Inc. comprise roughly a quarter of the S&P 500's market cap, according to FactSet. That means they have an outsize influence on the direction of the major stock index.
Big Tech Earnings Spark Hope That Worst Is Over
Results from the big tech companies have sparked investors' hopes that the worst of the postpandemic hangover is fading, but they also show how much growth has slowed.
Companies as varied as Amazon.com Inc., Google parent Alphabet Inc., Meta Platforms Inc. and Intel Corp. signaled to investors in recent days that the brutal slowdown in sales growth that began as people emerged from the pandemic and re-engaged with daily routines was coming to an end.
Here's What Treasury, Fed Might Do in a Debt Ceiling Crisis
U.S. regulators have long insisted that financial institutions have contingency plans for potential crises. A potential crisis now looms: an unprecedented default on Treasury debt. Yet the Biden administration has undermined contingency planning by refusing to say how it would respond.
The government spends more than it brings in from tax revenue and must continuously borrow to cover the difference, causing the national debt to rise over time. But Congress sets a statutory ceiling on that debt, currently $31.4 trillion, which was reached in January. Treasury is using accounting maneuvers to meet its bills without breaching the ceiling, but it is expected to exhaust those options as early as June or possibly later in the summer.
The Bear Market's Survivors Share Their Biggest Lessons
One silver lining of the stock market's fluctuations in recent months: Individual investors say they have learned a thing or two about investing along the way.
The S&P 500 has been stuck in a bear market-down more than 20% from its high-for 221 days. That is the longest such stretch since 1973, surpassing the selloffs that coincided with the bursting of the dot-com bubble in 2001 and the financial crisis of 2008.
The Building Boom Is Prolonging Market Pain
The building boom has helped push unemployment to around its lowest level in more than 50 years. That is perplexing investors who want to see the Federal Reserve switch course on interest rates.
Construction spending and employment have risen to new records this year, boosted by government outlays for infrastructure, a domestic manufacturing renaissance and a wave of apartment building that got off to a slow start during the pandemic when prices for building materials, such as lumber, were sky high.
Kevin McCarthy Shores Up GOP Lines as Debt-Ceiling Battle Looms
WASHINGTON-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy won the preliminary round in his effort to lead Republicans into debt-ceiling negotiations. Next comes the main event.
For the Californian, this fight will encompass the two mammoth missions he has taken on as leader of the chamber: balancing demands of different wings of often-chaotic House Republicans, while keeping the government functioning in his role as Republicans' top negotiator in Congress. It comes just months after he squeaked into the speakership after 15 rounds of votes.
The U.S. Is Winning Listings From the U.K. Here's How Investors Can Benefit.
Some of the biggest exchanges in the U.S. have recently won listings from the U.K. market. Think names like chip maker ARM, building materials maker CRH and FanDuel owner Flutter.
New York is a beacon because of its deep capital markets and large base of retail investors. And the U.S. has always been more comfortable than the U.K. with higher-risk companies. It tends to give higher valuations to technology or biotech companies, and investors in the States are more willing to take a bet on firms that have yet to make a profit.
China's Oil Strategy Mixes Diplomacy and a Domestic Drilling Push
China's biggest oil companies are increasing their drilling at home and signing big deals overseas, part of a push for energy security that has also led to rising trade with countries that are subject to U.S. sanctions.
China's demand for crude oil is likely to hit 15.6 million barrels a day this year, around 5% higher than last year, according to a forecast from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. The country is the second-largest consumer of oil after the U.S., so any change in its behavior could have a big impact on global prices.
China Balks at U.S. Push for Better Communications During Crises
BEIJING-China is resisting a U.S. push to build more-reliable systems for communicating in a crisis, raising the risk that a miscalculation by either side's military could spill into conflict.
Rarely since the Cold War have tensions between two global powers risen to the levels that exist between the U.S. and China today. But unlike the Soviets, who embraced crisis hotlines with Washington as a way to defuse tensions, Beijing is resisting the establishment of new communication channels. As Chinese officials see it, hotlines give the U.S. cover to continue what they view as provocative military operations in China's backyard.
China Locks Information on the Country Inside a Black Box
China's party-state, long steeped in secrecy, is creating a black box around information on the world's second-largest economy, alarming global businesses and investors.
Prodded by President Xi Jinping's emphasis on national security, authorities in recent months have restricted or outright cut off overseas access to various databases involving corporate-registration information, patents, procurement documents, academic journals and official statistical yearbooks.
How Ron DeSantis Could Unlock $86 Million for a Presidential Run
WASHINGTON-Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is poised to jump into the Republican presidential primary in the coming months with an $86 million pot of donor money-and a legally questionable strategy for using it.
The cash, currently sitting in a Florida political committee fund, would need to take a circuitous path to help him: It is illegal to use money raised for a state election to run for federal office, meaning Mr. DeSantis can't simply transfer it into a presidential campaign account.
Write to paul.larkins@dowjones.com TODAY IN CANADA
Earnings:
Capital Power 1Q
Cargojet 1Q
Gibson Energy 1Q
MEG Energy 1Q
TMX 1Q
Topaz Energy 1Q
Wajax 1Q
Economic Calendar (ET):
0930 Apr Manufacturing PMI
Expected Major Events for Monday
00:30/JPN: Apr Japan Manufacturing PMI
05:00/JPN: Apr Consumer Confidence Survey
05:00/JPN: Apr Auto sales
13:30/CAN: Apr Canada Manufacturing PMI
13:45/US: Apr US Manufacturing PMI
14:00/US: Apr ISM Report On Business Manufacturing PMI
14:00/US: Mar Construction Spending - Construction Put in Place
23:01/UK: Apr CBI Growth Indicator and Service Sector Survey
23:01/UK: Apr Shop Price Index
23:50/JPN: Apr Monetary Base
All times in GMT. Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.
Expected Earnings for Monday
Affiliated Managers Group Inc (AMG) is expected to report $3.01 for 1Q.
Air Industries Group (AIRI) is expected to report for 1Q.
Akoustis Technologies Inc (AKTS) is expected to report $-0.23 for 3Q.
Alexander's Inc (ALX) is expected to report for 1Q.
Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc (APAM) is expected to report $0.60 for 1Q.
Bogota Financial Corp (BSBK) is expected to report for 1Q.
CNA Financial Corp (CNA) is expected to report $1.24 for 1Q.
Capital Power is expected to report $0.51 for 1Q.
Cargojet (CGJTF) is expected to report $1.18 for 1Q.
Community Health Systems Inc (CYH) is expected to report $-0.16 for 1Q.
DATATRAK International Inc (DTRK) is expected to report for 4Q.
E2open Parent Holdings Inc (ETWO) is expected to report for 4Q.
EQ is expected to report for 4Q.
Enzon Pharmaceuticals Inc (ENZN) is expected to report for 1Q.
F45 Training Holdings Inc (FXLV) is expected to report for 4Q.
Flexsteel Industries Inc (FLXS) is expected to report $0.22 for 3Q.
Forward Air Corp (FWRD) is expected to report $1.30 for 1Q.
Four Corners Property Trust Inc (FCPT) is expected to report $0.26 for 1Q.
Franklin Resources Inc (BEN) is expected to report $0.48 for 2Q.
Global Payments Inc (GPN) is expected to report $0.91 for 1Q.
(MORE TO FOLLOW) Dow Jones Newswires
05-01-23 0608ET
