US stocks drifted higher to start the session, but the
Nasdaq fell with AAPL shares leading the way.
Shares of Citigroup were up 3.2% on better than expected earnings, lifting
financial shares. March retail sales
came in this morning topping expectations.
According to the Commerce Dept. March retail sales rose 0.8%, nearly 3
times as large as projected and followed a 1% advance in February. Electronics, clothing, and furniture stores
were among the categories showing growth.
Perhaps looming larger than the retail sales figures was a report that
showed New York area manufacturing expanded at the slowest pace in 5
months. The New York Empire State Index,
which measures manufacturing activity throughout New York, Northern New Jersey and southern Connecticut, was off
unexpectedly. In Europe, stocks rose
slightly while Spanish bond yields drifted higher. European officials will travel to Washington
DC later this week for the International Monetary Fund’s spring meeting to
discuss seeking more funding for the euro-are debt crisis which now focuses on
Spain as the most recent concern. In
Asia, stocks were down to start the week on concern over Spain’s rising
borrowing costs. Commodities were down
with oil off 0.70% to 102.18 and gold down 0.50% to 1652. The US dollar was mixed and the 10 yr.
treasury yield was down slightly to 1.98%.
30 yr. mortgage rates continued to slip lower to 3.88%. The CBOE volatility index started down 4%
then quickly turned positive.
