Dollar gains after Fitch watch heightens debt ceiling jitters

TOKYO, May 25 (Reuters) – The dollar pushed to a two-month peak against a basket of its peers on Thursday as worries mounted about a disastrous US default after ratings company Fitch put the United States’ “AAA” debt ratings on negative watch.

The greenback has paradoxically benefited from demand for safe havens with only a week left for a resolution to slow-moving debt ceiling talks before the June 1 “X-date”, when the Treasury has warned it will be unable to pay all its bills.

The US currency has also benefited from a paring of bets for Federal Reserve rate cuts this year, with the economy proving resilient to the effects of the central bank’s aggressive tightening campaign until now.

That contrasts with escalating signs of economic malaise in Europe and China, which have sent those currencies to multi-month lows.

“The dollar has seen a good, solid move higher, and there’s good reasons for it,” said Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG Markets, pointing particularly to haven demand amid the debt ceiling standoff, as well as the signs of slowdowns in China and Europe.

“I believe the dollar could be on the cusp of another 2% move higher, and Fitch could be the trigger for it.”

The US dollar index, which measures the currency against six major peers and is heavily weighted towards the euro, rose about 0.2% to 104.05, the highest since March 17.

Sycamore said a sustained break above 104 could lead to a test of 106.

The latest sign of weakness out of Europe came from a worse-than-expected deterioration in German business confidence.

The euro slipped about 0.1%, enough to refresh a two-month low at USD 1.0733.

Sterling eased 0.2% to the weakest since April 3 at USD 1.2332.

Against the yen, the dollar edged to its strongest since Nov. 30 at 139.705.

The Chinese yuan renewed a six-month low, dropping to 7.0879 per dollar in the offshore market.

The Asian giant has produced a cascade of disappointing economic indicators, all pointing to dull consumer demand and suggesting a post-pandemic recovery has already run its course.

“The PBoC (People’s Bank of China) showed little intention to defend the (yuan),” Ken Cheung, chief Asian FX strategist at Mizuho Bank, wrote in a client note.

He expected the yuan to remain under pressure until the country’s economic data shows improvement or the PBoC takes policy action to stabilize the currency market.

Australia’s dollar has felt the impact of China’s economic weakness acutely due to its close trade ties, slipping to a 6 1/2-month low of USD 0.65235 on Thursday.

The New Zealand dollar was still reeling from the central bank’s shock dovish tilt on Wednesday, which triggered a 2.2% slide. It slid a further 0.4% to hit its lowest since mid-November at USD 0.6082.

Meanwhile, US money market traders have trimmed expectations for Fed rate cuts this year to just a quarter point in December, from as much as 75 basis points previously.

They have also ramped odds for another quarter-point hike in June back up to about 1-in-3, after several Fed officials struck hawkish postures recently with consumer inflation still running about twice the 2% target.

“Whether we should hike or skip at the June meeting will depend on how the data come in over the next three weeks,” Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Wednesday at an event in California.

“I do not support stopping rate hikes unless we get clear evidence that inflation is moving down towards our 2% objective.”

(Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Edmund Klamann)

Oil stable as investors weigh US debt uncertainty, potential OPEC+ cuts

SINGAPORE, May 25 (Reuters) – Oil prices were little changed on Thursday as uncertainty over whether the United States will avoid a debt default weighed against the prospect of further OPEC+ production cuts.

Brent crude futures dipped 14 cents, or 0.2%, to USD 78.22 a barrel by 0635 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) edged lower 25 cents, or 0.3%, to USD 74.09.

Some progress had been made but several issues remained unresolved in US debt ceiling negotiations, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Thursday, as the deadline ticked closer to raise the federal government’s USD 31.4 trillion borrowing limit or risk default.

Negotiators for Democratic President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy reconvened Wednesday at the White House to try to close a deal.

“A cautious lid on the risk environment brought by the US debt ceiling uncertainty has also put oil prices on some wait-and-see in the Asia session,” said Yeap Jun Rong, market strategist at IG.

“Coupled with further strength in the US dollar, that has kept oil prices on hold for now, while awaiting a further catalyst to follow through with its recent recovery,” Yeap added.

In the previous session, oil prices were supported by a warning from Saudi Arabia’s energy minister that short-sellers betting oil prices will fall should “watch out” for pain.

Some investors took that as a signal that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, together called OPEC+, could consider further output cuts at a meeting on June 4.

Meanwhile, price declines were capped by an unexpected, massive fall in US crude oil inventories in the week to May 19 reported by the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.

US crude inventories fell by 12.5 million barrels to 455.2 million barrels as imports declined. Analysts had expected an 800,000-barrel rise.

Gasoline inventories dropped by 2.1 million barrels in the week to 216.3 million barrels, the EIA said, while distillate stockpiles fell by 600,000 barrels to 105.7 million barrels.

(Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Additional reporting by Laura Sanicola; Editing by Sonali Paul and Christian Schmollinger)

Gold range-bound on firmer dollar, US debt limit uncertainty

May 25 (Reuters) – Gold prices were flat on Thursday as the dollar advanced to an over two-month high and sapped demand for the greenback-priced metal, while investors awaited further developments in the drawn-out debt ceiling negotiations in Washington.

Spot gold was flat at USD 1,957.09 per ounce by 0519 GMT. US gold futures fell 0.3% to USD 1,958.80.

Rival safe-haven dollar scaled to its highest since mid-March, making gold less attractive for overseas buyers.

Bullion has been attempting to recover from its previous sell-off, but a stronger dollar and higher US Treasury yields continue to keep the upside in check, which seems to override safe-haven flows around the US debt ceiling situation, said Yeap Jun Rong, a market analyst at IG.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday maintained early June as a debt ceiling default deadline and said she will update Congress shortly about government finances.

Negotiators for Democratic President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy held what both sides called productive talks on Wednesday to try to reach a deal to raise the United States’ USD 31.4 trillion debt ceiling and avoid a catastrophic default.

Investors also took stock of minutes of the May 2-3 Federal Reserve meeting that showed policymakers “generally agreed” last month that the need for further interest rate increases “had become less certain,” with several saying the quarter-percentage-point hike they approved might be the last.

Investors will also scan US GDP estimates and initial jobless claims due at 1230 GMT for guidance on the economy’s health.

Spot silver fell 0.2% to USD 23.03 per ounce, platinum eased 0.3% to USD 1,021.23, and palladium edged 0.1% lower to USD 1,413.96.

“Platinum is regaining investor attention as fundamentals improve. South African mining challenges weigh on supply recovery this year, while demand is getting support from gold as well as the ongoing substitution away from palladium,” ANZ said in a note.

(Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber, Sohini Goswami and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

Stocks set for range trading as central banks near end game

BENGALURU, May 25 (Reuters) – Global stock indices will end this year higher than where they started it but most are set to be confined to ranges in coming months even as central banks approach the endgame for interest rate rises, according to Reuters polls of market strategists.

Despite the drubbing in 2022 and starting the year on the back foot, global stocks have recovered from March lows based on expectations that most central banks were done or nearly done with in some cases more than a year of raising interest rates.

The MSCI global stock index, which fell more than 8.5% between Feb. 2 and March 15 following the failure of a few US regional banks, has since recouped nearly all of those losses and is up about 9% for the year.

Still, there is barely any improvement to the outlook for major indices at year-end compared to a survey taken three months ago before the turmoil. Year-end forecasts for 10 of the 17 indices polled May 10-24 have been downgraded.

This suggests stocks are no longer a one-way bet in the minds of investors like they were for swathes of the last decade, in large part because there is little scope for central banks swooping in to cut borrowing costs any time soon.

“Although monetary tightening has been a drag on equities over the past year or so, we don’t think the end of rate hikes means the stock market is set for big gains,” said Thomas Mathews, senior market economist at Capital Economics.

Mathews added that “any hopes of a boost to equities from an end to monetary tightening will probably be dashed.”

Among analysts with a view on what the dominant trend for stock indexes will be over the coming months, a two-thirds majority, 64 of 97, predict narrow-range trading. Nineteen said they would rally and the remaining 14 predicted a correction.

Manish Kabra, head of US equity strategy at Societe Generale, noted the “fear of missing out” factor that has driven stocks in the recent past was no longer convincing, as there were multiple reasons to not load up on stocks and “we should see credit risks and bond volatility pick up again.”

While there was no majority among 104 analysts who had a view on the primary drive for stock markets over the coming three months, two related responses, economic data (39) and monetary policy (27) were the top picks.

Those were followed by company earnings (19) and other reasons (19).

With central banks’ actions expected to have an outsized say over stock price movements, the European indices and the Nikkei which outperformed their developed and emerging peers were expected to shed the most by year-end.

The STOXX index of the euro zone’s top 50 blue chips was forecast to fall about 2% from Monday’s close to 4,300 points by the end of December. The index is up 15.6% year to date.

Britain’s FTSE 100 was predicted to end the year at 7,775 points, broadly in line with Monday’s close.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was predicted to drop 4% from 33-year highs, returning to the psychologically key 30,000 level by year-end.

The benchmark US S&P 500 index which lost over 19% last year, its worst annual performance since 2008, is up around 8% this year and was forecast to trade around current levels to close 2023 at 4,150.

Brazil’s Bovespa and Mexico’s S&P/BMV IPC stock index were forecast to gain nearly 9.0% and 7.5% respectively by end-2023. Both countries’ central banks were widely expected to cut rates over the next 12 months.

(Reporting by Hari Kishan and Sarupya Ganguly; Additional reporting and polling by correspondents in Bengaluru, Buenos Aires, London, Mexico City, Milan, New York, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Tokyo, and Toronto; Editing by Ross Finley, William Maclean)

Yields up as debt ceiling talks drag on, June T-bills top 7%

NEW YORK, May 24 (Reuters) – Key US Treasury note yields ticked higher on Wednesday, while yields surged above 7% on some bills due for repayment on June 1, the first day that the government might not be able to make payments without a debt ceiling increase.

Investors shunned debt at risk of not being repaid if the US Treasury Department runs out of cash. The yields on bills due on June 1 were last at 7.1222%, and briefly got as high as 7.3710%. That is up sharply from Tuesday’s close of 5.992%. Other bills due on June 6 also rose as high as 7.491%.

Democratic US President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy’s negotiators resumed talks that the White House called productive on Wednesday to try to close a deal to raise the USD 31.4 trillion US debt ceiling and avoid a catastrophic default.

The yield on benchmark two- and 10-year notes edged down in the afternoon after the Federal Open Market Committee released minutes of its May meeting, where the Federal Reserve raised interest rates 25 basis points. The transcript showed agreement among policymakers that the case for further interest-rate tightening had become “less certain.”

The yield on 10-year Treasury notes still ended up 3.8 basis points at 3.736%.

“To some extent, sellers are just getting exhausted. It might be oversold,” said Kim Rupert, managing director of fixed income analysis at Action Economics in San Francisco.

“The debt limit is certainly creating a lot of anxiety. The June bill spiked over 7% today.”

Recent comments from Fed officials had fueled uncertainty about whether the central bank will pause its rate-hiking cycle at its mid-June meeting, indicating officials are not in unison about the path of monetary policy.

Expectations for another 25-basis-point hike from the Fed at the June meeting have edged up recently and are currently at 34%, up from 28.1% on Tuesday, according to CME’s
FedWatch Tool.

The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond rose 2.6 basis points to 3.978%.

The yield on one-month bills hit another record high of 5.892%, as concerns about payments coming due when the Treasury is most vulnerable to running out of money keep investors away. The yield was last at 5.729%.

The Treasury auctioned USD 43 billion in 5-year notes on Wednesday and saw strong demand, with a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.58 and high yield of 3.749%. Treasury’s USD 42 billion sale of two-year notes also went well on Tuesday, with a high yield of 4.30%.

A closely watched part of the US Treasury yield curve measuring the gap between yields on two- and 10-year Treasury notes, seen as an indicator of economic expectations, was at a negative 62.7 basis points.

The two-year US Treasury yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, was up 8.4 basis points at 4.368%.

“You are essentially getting conflicting stories out of everything because you have such a sharply inverted curve at the very front,” said Matt Orton, chief market strategist at Raymond James Investment Management in St. Petersburg, Florida. “So you have a curve worried about the US and its ability to pay back debt and potentially be downgraded, sharply falling.

“Then you have basically the back of the curve still saying at the end of the day everything is going to be just fine, no recession, the economy is going to be good.”

The breakeven rate on five-year US Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) was last at 2.25%, after closing at 2.234% on Tuesday.

The 10-year TIPS breakeven rate was last at 2.2702%, indicating the market sees inflation averaging 2.3% a year for the next decade.

(Reporting by Alden Bentley and Chuck Mikolaczak; Editing by Leslie Adler and Richard Chang)

Wall Street ends down as debt-ceiling clouds hover

May 24 (Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes ended lower on Wednesday as talks between the White House and Republican representatives on raising the US debt ceiling dragged on without a deal.

The lack of progress on raising the US government’s USD 31.4 trillion debt limit ahead of a June 1 deadline, with several rounds of inconclusive talks, has made investors edgier as the risk of a catastrophic default looms larger.

Democratic President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy’s negotiators held what the White House called productive talks.

“Up until yesterday, investors have been very optimistic around the US debt ceiling resolution,” said Angelo Kourkafas, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones. “But now as we get closer … to the June 1st X-date, we are seeing some caution again.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 255.59 points, or 0.77%, to 32,799.92, the S&P 500 lost 30.34 points, or 0.73%, to 4,115.24 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 76.08 points, or 0.61%, to 12,484.16.

Ten of the 11 S&P 500 sectors ended in negative territory, with real estate falling the most. Energy was the lone sector gainer.

The CBOE Volatility Index, known as Wall Street’s fear gauge, hovered around three-week highs.

Federal Reserve policy was also in focus. Stocks held their declines after the release of minutes from the Fed’s May 2-3 meeting, showing that Fed officials “generally agreed” last month that the need for further interest rate increases “had become less certain.”

Investors expect the central bank to pause its aggressive rate hiking campaign at its June 13-14 meeting.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he is concerned about the lack of progress on inflation, and while skipping an interest rate hike at the central bank’s meeting next month may be possible, an end to the hiking campaign is not likely.

“The economy is still doing OK, and there really is not, from the Fed’s perspective, a reason to back away from a tighter monetary policy,” said Paul Nolte, senior wealth advisor and market strategist at Murphy & Sylvest Wealth Management.

In company news, Citigroup Inc (C) shares fell 3.1% as the bank scrapped a USD 7 billion sale of its Mexican consumer unit Banamex and will list it instead.

Agilent Technologies Inc (A) shares shed about 6% after the company cut its annual sales and profit forecasts.

Shares of TurboTax-owner Intuit Inc (INTU) dropped 7.5% after a disappointing profit forecast.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 3.71-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.34-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

The S&P 500 posted no new 52-week highs and 14 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 38 new highs and 110 new lows.

About 9.7 billion shares changed hands in US exchanges, compared with the 10.5 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.

(Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf and Sinéad Carew in New York, Shreyashi Sanyal and Shristi Achar A in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and David Gregorio)

Gold slips as dollar advances with US debt talks dragging on

May 24 (Reuters) – Gold slipped on Wednesday as the dollar firmed, cutting some safe-haven flows into bullion from the looming risk of a US debt default, while investors took stock of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s May meeting.

Spot gold was down 0.6% at USD 1,962.92 per ounce by 2:25 p.m. EDT (1825 GMT), after earlier rising as much as 0.5%. US gold futures settled 0.5% lower at USD 1,964.60.

The dollar index hit a fresh two-month high, weighing on demand for greenback-priced bullion.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen maintained early June as a debt ceiling default deadline, while negotiators for Democratic President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy reconvened to try to close a deal.

“Overwhelmingly, the debt ceiling headlines are at play,” said Daniel Ghali, commodity strategist at TD Securities.

Gold gained in the previous session “despite headwinds from a rising broad dollar, which reveals notable demand behind the scenes”, Ghali added.

Wall Street’s main indexes fell as the debt ceiling impasse kept investors on edge.

If regional US banking troubles were to subside and agreement to be reached over the debt ceiling, gold could fall further, said Edward Gardner, commodities economist at Capital Economics.

Fed officials “generally agreed” last month that the need for further rate increases “had become less certain”, according to minutes of the May 2-3 meeting released on Wednesday.

Fed governor Christopher Waller said that while skipping an interest rate hike at the meeting next month may be possible, an end to the hiking campaign isn’t likely.

Bullion was hovering just above 1-1/2 month lows touched last week, as higher interest rates tend to increase the opportunity cost of holding non-interest-bearing gold.

Spot silver shed 1.4% to USD 23.10 per ounce, while platinum fell 2.2% to USD 1,024.59. Palladium dropped 2.6% to a near two-month low of USD 1,408.00.

(Reporting by Deep Vakil and Seher Dareen in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Christina Fincher, Rashmi Aich, Shounak Dasgupta and Jan Harvey)

What US Treasury debt payments are at risk of default?

NEW YORK, May 24 (Reuters) – Wall Street’s focus is turning to at-risk US Treasury debt payments as the deadline to raise the government’s USD 31.4 trillion borrowing limit or risk default ticks closer.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Sunday said June 1 remained a “hard deadline” for raising the federal debt limit, with the odds quite low that the government will collect enough revenue to pay its bills through June 15, when more tax receipts are due.

Should the government fail to raise the current USD 31.4 trillion borrowing cap before it exhausts its cash and borrowing capacity, it could miss payments on some of its debt.

In June, the Treasury must pay over USD 1.3 trillion between T-bills and bond payments, including principal and interest, JPMorgan has estimated.

“Considering June 1 as the ‘drop dead’ date and assuming any technical default is short-lived, bills maturing in early- to mid-June appear to be most at risk of being the first to default if the debt ceiling is not raised,” fixed income strategists at the bank said in a note last week.

“In addition to T-bills, Treasuries with maturities in the middle of June and December are also at risk of having a missed coupon/ principal payment,” they said.

T-bills do not pay regular interest payments because their maturity dates are very short. Longer-term Treasury debt such as bonds and notes pay interest every six months.

(Reporting by Davide Barbuscia; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Oil prices gain 2% on falling US stockpiles, Saudi warning

NEW YORK, May 24 (Reuters) – Oil prices rose 2% on Wednesday, after a large unexpected drawdown in US crude inventories and a warning from the Saudi energy minister that raised the prospect of further OPEC+ production cuts.

Brent crude futures rose USD 1.52, or 2%, to settle at USD 78.36 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) gained USD 1.43, or 2%, to USD 74.34.

US crude inventories posted a massive surprise weekly drawdown of 12.5 million barrels to 455.2 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said, as imports declined. Analysts had expected an 800,000-barrel rise.

US gasoline stocks dropped by 2.1 million barrels in the week to 216.3 million barrels, the EIA said, while distillate stockpiles fell by 600,000 barrels to 105.7 million barrels.

The US Memorial Day holiday on May 29 marks the beginning of the peak summer travel season and higher fuel demand.

“Refiners are absolutely going max out with refinery runs right now, trying to keep up with demand,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group.

“Oil prices have been so focused on the debt ceiling and interest rates, but really they haven’t focused on the supply and demand side which has tightened in the last couple of weeks.”

Federal Reserve officials “generally agreed” last month that the need for further interest rate increases “had become less certain,” with several saying that the quarter-percentage-point hike they approved might be the last, according to minutes of the May 2-3 meeting released on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said short-sellers betting oil prices will fall should “watch out” for pain, comments some investors took as a signal that OPEC+, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, could consider further output cuts at a meeting on June 4.

“Oil prices are trading higher … buoyed by the latest short-seller warning from Saudi Arabia,” said OANDA senior market analyst Craig Erlam.

“(But) if past experience is anything to go by, traders may be tempted to call his bluff.”

Weighing on broader markets, there were no signs of progress in US debt ceiling talks as the deadline ticked closer to raise the federal government’s borrowing limit or risk default.

Negotiators for Democratic President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy reconvened at the White House to try to close a deal.

Oil price gains were limited by news that Britain’s stubbornly high inflation rate fell by less than expected last month, according to official data that raised the chances of more interest rate hikes.

(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly in New York; additional reporting by Rowena Edwards and Shadia Nasralla in London, and Emily Chow in Singapore; Editing by Jason Neely, Marguerita Choy and David Gregorio)

Wall Street ends sharply lower on deadlocked debt ceiling talks

NEW YORK, May 23 (Reuters) – Wall Street stocks finished sharply lower on Tuesday and short-term Treasury yields shot up as investor jitters grew over a lack of progress in U.S. debt limit talks.

Representatives of U.S. President Joe Biden and congressional Republicans ended another round of debt ceiling talks on Tuesday, as the deadline drew closer to raise the government’s $31.4 trillion borrowing limit or risk default.

Debt limit worries pushed yields on one-month Treasury bills US1MT=RR to record highs at 5.888%. US/

Investors are also waiting for minutes from the Federal Reserve’s May 2-3 meeting, due on Wednesday, to assess the central bank’s next likely move on interest rates.

Regional Fed Presidents James Bullard and Neel Kashkari on Monday indicated that the U.S. central bank may need to continue hiking rates if inflation remains high.

Michael Wilson, Morgan Stanley’s equity strategist, said a U.S. debt default is not priced into the market. Even if the two sides agree on a deal, it could still have implications for economic growth, he said.

“If they come to an agreement on the debt ceiling, there will be some concessions on the fiscal spending. It’s an issue for growth,” Wilson said. “Is that going to be an immediate impact, or will it be later? We think there’s a bit of both. At the end of the day, there’s no positive tradeoff.”

The S&P 500 benchmark index .SPX declined 1.12% to end at 4,145.58 points. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC fell 1.26% to 12,560.25 points, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI slid 0.69% to 33,055.51 points.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively light, with 10.3 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 10.6 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions.

Strategists polled by Reuters see the S&P 500 ending the year at 4,150 points, down slightly from Monday’s close of 4,192.63.

Helping limit larger losses, the S&P Global data showed U.S. business activity rose to a 13-month high in May, lifted by strong growth in the services sector.

The report was the latest sign that the economy held its momentum early in the second quarter despite rising risks of a recession.

The Commerce Department’s April personal consumption expenditure (PCE) index reading, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, is due on Friday.

Broadcom Inc AVGO.O advanced 1.2% after the chipmaker entered into a multi-billion-dollar deal with Apple Inc AAPL.O to use chips made in the United States. Apple shares fell 1.5%.

Zoom Video Communications ZM.O dropped over 8% after the video conferencing platform reported its slowest quarterly revenue growth.

Among retail earnings, Lowe’s Companies Inc LOW.N cut its annual comparable sales forecast, as demand dwindles for home improvement goods. Lowe’s ended up 1.7%.

Shares of regional lenders extended gains from Monday, led by a 7.9% gain in PacWest Bancorp PACW.O, with the KBW regional banking index <.KRX> rising 0.9%.

Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones within the S&P 500 by a 3.5-to-one ratio.

The S&P 500 posted three new highs and one new low; the Nasdaq recorded 90 new highs and 70 new lows.

(Reporting by Shreyashi Sanyal and Shristi Achar A in Bengaluru and Saeed Azhar and Noel Randewich in New York; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Richard Chang)

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