MARKET SNAPSHOT
U.S. stocks ended higher, led by a surge in Tesla shares. Treasury yields fell slightly as investors awaited Wednesday's Federal Reserve policy meeting. The dollar finished lower and gold ended higher. Oil fell on prospects for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.
MARKET WRAPS
EQUITIES
A surge in Tesla's stock helped the market extend its rally to start a busy week for corporate earnings and economic data.
Major U.S. indexes edged higher. The S&P 500 rose 0.3%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ticked upward by 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.4%.
A Federal Reserve meeting set to conclude Wednesday could give investors additional hints regarding whether the central bank might lower rates by year's end. Tesla shares bounded 15% higher, their largest one-day gain since 2021, after Chief Executive Elon Musk won Beijing's blessing to roll out the company's driver-assistance service in China.
Earlier in the day, Chinese shares closed higher, supported by real estate shares. Investor cheered the news that home-buying restrictions were removed in Chengdu, a major Chinese city, which raised hopes that more Tier-1 cities will relax their rules as well. Semiconductor shares were also broadly higher.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.8%, the Shenzhen Composite Index was 2.3% higher, and the ChiNext Price Index ended 3.5% higher. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed 0.5% higher, led by property stocks.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was closed for the Showa Day holiday.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.8% higher, bouncing amid strength in financial and real-estate stocks. The heavyweight financial sector rose 0.6% while the property trusts sector rose 1.6%.
New Zealand's NZX-50 closed 0.9% higher. Real-estate and aged-care companies were among the gainers.
COMMODITIES
Oil futures declined, with U.S. prices settling at their lowest in about a month, as efforts to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas helped to ease concerns over potential supply disruptions in the region.
West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery fell 1.5% to settle at $82.63 a barrel -- the lowest settlement for WTI front-month futures since March 27. June Brent, the global benchmark, lost 1.2%, to finish at $88.40 a barrel.
Reports that Canada's Trans Mountain pipeline-expansion project is poised to start partial operations this week - and eventually transport more than half a million barrels of oil from Alberta to the country's Pacific Coast -- also pressured prices, an analyst said.
Front-month Comex May gold gained 0.5% to $2345.40 -- higher for three consecutive sessions.
TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES
Treasury Department raises its second-quarter borrowing estimate
The Treasury Department said Monday it expects to borrow $243 billion in the second quarter, which is $41 billion higher than previously estimated.
The increase was driven in part by lower projected cash receipts for the second quarter. The updated forecast includes an end-of-quarter cash balance of $750 billion.
Looking ahead to the third quarter, Treasury said it expects to borrow $847 billion in net marketable debt, with a cash balance of $850 billion.
Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish Steps Down
Paramount Global's board is parting ways with Chief Executive Bob Bakish, a leadership shake-up that comes as the entertainment giant is in the midst of a merger drama and is looking to jump-start its beleaguered business.
Paramount said it would put in place an "Office of the CEO" through which three of its division heads will run the company. The division heads who would collectively run Paramount include Brian Robbins, CEO of Paramount Pictures, CBS President and CEO George Cheeks and Chris McCarthy, who oversees Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks.
"I have tremendous confidence in George, Chris and Brian," wrote Shari Redstone, chair of the board, in a statement. "They have both the ability to develop and execute on a new strategic plan and to work together as true partners."'
FCC Fines Wireless Carriers About $200 Million for Sharing Customer Data
Federal regulators fined wireless carriers Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint nearly $200 million for sharing customer-location data without consent.
The Federal Communications Commission on Monday said that an investigation found the four carriers sold access to customers' location data to aggregators, who resold the data to third parties.
The FCC said that Verizon was fined $46.9 million, AT&T was fined $57.3 million, T-Mobile was fined $80.1 million and Sprint was fined $12.2 million. Sprint and T-Mobile merged in 2020.
Regulator Investigates Ford's Hands-Free Driving System After Fatal Crashes
U.S. auto-safety regulators have launched an investigation into the safety of Ford Motor's hands-free driving system, following a pair of recent crashes that left three people dead.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the auto industry's top regulator, said in a filing made public Monday that it had received notice of two recent incidents involving BlueCruise, Ford's driver-assistance system.
In both cases, Ford Mustang Mach-E SUVs collided with stationary vehicles on highways during nighttime lighting conditions, each resulting in a fatality, NHTSA said.
Philips Agrees to $1 Billion U.S. Ventilator Settlement, Backs Guidance
Royal Philips said it has reached a $1.1 billion settlement in the U.S. related its Respironics ventilators, and backed its full-year guidance.
The Dutch health-technology group said Monday that the agreement relates to the personal-injury litigation and medical monitoring class action in the U.S. but that Philips Respironics hasn't admitted any fault or liability, or that any injuries were caused by Respironics devices.
The company also said it has agreed with insurers to a 540 million euro ($577.4 million) payout to cover Respironics recall-related product liability and that this is expected to be recognized in its second quarter accounts, with the payment anticipated to be made this year.
Expected Major Events for Tuesday
01:00/NZ: Apr ANZ Business Outlook
01:00/JPN: Mar Steel Imports & Exports Statistics
01:30/AUS: Mar Financial Aggregates, incl Private Sector Credit
01:30/CHN: Apr CFLP China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index $(PMI.UK)$
01:30/CHN: Apr CFLP China Non-Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI)
01:30/AUS: Mar Retail Trade
01:45/CHN: Apr China Manufacturing PMI
02:00/SIN: 1Q Unemployment Rate
02:00/SIN: 1Q Employment
02:00/SIN: Mar Money Supply
02:00/SIN: Mar Bank Loans
03:00/SKA: Mar Net barter terms of trade
04:30/JPN: Mar Preliminary Report on Petroleum Statistics
05:00/JPN: Mar Housing Starts
05:00/JPN: Mar Construction Orders
06:30/AUS: Mar International Reserves & Foreign Currency Liquidity
07:00/THA: Mar Industrial Production Index
07:00/MAL: Mar Money Supply
08:00/TAI: 1Q Advance GDP
08:15/HK: Mar Money Supply
09:59/HK: Mar Tourism figures
09:59/PHI: Mar Money Supply (M3)
22:45/NZ: 1Q Labour Cost Index (Salary & Wage Rates)
22:45/NZ: 1Q Quarterly Employment Survey
22:45/NZ: 1Q Household Labour Force Survey
23:00/AUS: Apr Australia Manufacturing PMI
23:00/AUS: Apr Australian PMI
23:00/AUS: Apr Australian PCI
00:00/SKA: Apr Trade data
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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 29, 2024 16:45 ET (20:45 GMT)
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