US stocks mixed as crude rallies to six-month high

Bloomberg

Most US equities fell in light volume as investors prepared for a deluge of earnings news. Oil jumped after the White House said it will scrap waivers that allow the purchase of some Iranian crude.
The S&P 500 Index fluctuated between small gains and losses, hovering about 1 percent below its all-time high. Tesla Inc fell after an analyst downgraded the shares to sell, while Kimberly-Clark Corp, the maker of Kleenex and Huggies, rallied after first-quarter results beat estimates. The dollar was steady as 10-year Treasury yields inched up.
In Asia, Chinese stocks and bonds fell as investors wagered future stimulus will be limited, while shares in Japan finished slightly higher. In Sri Lanka, bonds and the rupee slipped after the terrorist attacks. The Easter holiday weekend shut trading in much of Europe.
With corporate reporting season in full flow, investors are looking for clues as to whether the dovish policy pivot from the world’s central banks can shore up global growth enough to outweigh any deterioration in the earnings picture.
The stock market appears to be saying yes for now, with the US equity benchmark near a record high and an MSCI gauge of global equities on track for a fourth month of gains.
“It’s going to take something else to push the S&P 500 to new all-time highs,” Tom Essaye, a former Merrill Lynch trader who founded “The Sevens Report” newsletter, wrote to clients.
Traders have a week full of company earnings releases to look forward to, including from major technology firms. They’ll also be focused on the US economy, with first-quarter gross domestic product data due Friday. Elsewhere, Bloomberg’s commodity index climbed as West Texas oil rose to the highest since October.
A Who’s Who of the tech world reports this week, with Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft and Tesla among the heavy hitters on tap. European bank earnings kick into full gear with reports from Deutsche Bank, UBS, Barclays, Credit Suisse and Swedbank.
The Bank of Japan, Bank of Canada, Bank of Russia, Sweden’s Riksbank and Bank of Indonesia set monetary policy. Germany’s IFO data is released on Wednesday. Japan’s Shinzo Abe meets leaders of the European Union on Thursday before flying to the US for a summit with President Donald Trump.
The initial print on first-quarter US GDP on Friday will be closely watched for clues as to how the economy responded to the government shutdown and fallout from to the fourth-quarter market rout.
The S&P 500 Index was little changed in New York. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.2 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index decreased 1.7 percent, the largest dip in more than three weeks. The MSCI Emerging Market Index declined 0.3 percent.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose less than 0.1 percent. The offshore yuan fell 0.2 percent. The euro gained 0.1 percent to $1.1253. The MSCI Emerging Markets Currency Index fell 0.1 percent.
The yield on two-year Treasuries was little changed at 2.38 percent. The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose one basis point to 2.58 percent.