Bonds & Stocks
Wall Street traders drove stocks higher amid solid results from Corporate America while tariff tensions between the world’s two largest economies cooled. Bitcoin jumped. Bond yields edged lower. With the earnings season now well underway, about 85% of the companies in the S&P 500 have beaten earnings estimates. That’s helped fuel a rebound in equities, which also gained steam as President Donald Trump said the US will “be fine” with China just before the two sides return to the negotiating table.
Economy
President Donald Trump listed rare earths, fentanyl and soybeans as the US’s top issues with China just before the two sides return to the negotiating table and as a fragile trade truce nears expiration. “I don’t want them to play the rare earth game with us,” Trump said on Air Force One on Sunday as he headed back to Washington from Florida. Days earlier, the US leader threatened a 100% tariff on Chinese shipments after Beijing vowed to exert broad controls on the minerals.
World
French bonds declined after S&P Global Ratings downgraded the nation’s sovereign credit score, an unscheduled move that highlights its fiscal woes and places its debt at risk of forced selling by some funds. Yields on French debt rose led by longer-dated tenors, with 10-year yields up three basis points to 3.39% compared to a one basis point move in their German counterparts. The euro steadied after coming under pressure late Friday when S&P lowered the country’s score from AA- to A+.