Bonds & Stocks
Wall Street got another signal the labor market is slowing, which could pave the way for the Federal Reserve to cut rates this year.Equities edged up as data showed a jump in jobless claims to the highest level since August, beating estimated. Fed traders slightly amped up their policy-easing bets for 2024. In the Treasury market, shorter maturities outperformed the rest of the US curve. The S&P 500 hovered near 5,190. Two-year yields dropped two basis points to 4.8%. Just a day after an auction of 10-year bonds saw tepid demand, the US will test the market with a $25 billion sale of 30-year Treasuries.
Economy
Roughly one in 37 homes are now considered seriously underwater in the US and that share is much higher across a swath of southern states, according to data out Thursday.
Nationally, 2.7% of homes carried loan balances at least 25% more than their market value in the first few months of the year. That’s up from 2.6% in the previous quarter, according to the first-quarter 2024 US Home Equity & Underwater Report from ATTOM, a real estate data firm.
World
US President Joe Biden said he would halt additional shipments of offensive weapons to Israel if the country launched a ground invasion of Rafah, decrying the potential loss of civilian life as “just wrong.”