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U.S. Treasury yields slip after rally
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Seagen surges on Pfizer-buyout report
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Union Pacific jumps as CEO to step down
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Indexes up: Dow 0.61%, S&P 0.71%, Nasdaq 0.91%
(Updates to market open)
By Sruthi Shankar
Feb 27 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks climbed on Monday as
investors bought beaten-down shares after the main benchmarks
suffered their worst weekly selloff this year on worries about
tighter monetary policies.
The blue-chip Dow erased its gains for the year in
Friday's selloff and the S&P 500 logged its third
straight week of losses on fears of that a strong U.S. economy
and high inflation will give the Fed more room to raise rates.
The mood, however, was buoyant on Monday as U.S. Treasury
yields slipped after a strong rally, lifting rate-sensitive
growth stocks such Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc more than 1%. Tesla rallied 4% after the electric automaker said
its plant in Brandenburg near Berlin was producing 4,000 cars a
week, three weeks ahead of schedule according to a recent
production plan reviewed by Reuters.
"We are looking at a relief rally today because the market
was down so much last week," said Sam Stovall, chief investment
strategist at CFRA Research in New York.
"February historically is the second worst month of the year
for the stock market. So investors are concluding from a
seasonal perspective that maybe stocks could rally at least in
the near term."
The yield on two-year notes , the most sensitive
to short-term rate expectations, slipped after touching a near
four-month high earlier in the session. Traders added to their bets of a 50-basis-point (bps) hike
in March after data last week showed the Personal Consumption
Expenditures price index, the metric by which the Fed measures
its 2% inflation target, rose 5.4% last month.
Fed fund futures show traders have priced in a third 25 bps
hikes this year and see rates peaking at 5.39% by September. At 9:47 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was
up 200.27 points, or 0.61%, at 33,017.19, the S&P 500 was
up 28.03 points, or 0.71%, at 3,998.07, and the Nasdaq Composite was up 104.12 points, or 0.91%, at 11,499.06.
Data on Monday showed new orders for key U.S.-made capital
goods increased more than expected in January but orders for
durable goods that are meant to last three years or more fell
more than forecast.
After last week's hawkish comments from the Fed
policymakers, investors will turn to Fed Governor Philip
Jefferson's speech later in the day.
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc inched
higher after it reported its highest-ever annual operating
profit, even as foreign currency losses and rising rates led to
lower earnings in the fourth quarter.
Seagen Inc surged 12.2% after the Wall Street Journal reported that Pfizer was in early talks to acquire the biotech firm. Pfizer's shares slipped 1.1%. U.S. railroad operator Union Pacific jumped 9.6% as Chief Executive Lance Fritz said he would step down, a move that follows calls from hedge fund Soroban Capital Partners for his ouster. Fisker Inc soared 23.7% after the EV maker reported increased orders for its sports utility vehicle Ocean and maintained its production forecast for the year. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 4.29-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and 2.66-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P index recorded one new 52-week highs and three new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 37 new highs and 28 new lows. (Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Shristi Achar A in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Arun Koyyur)
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