Global Stocks Mixed as U.S. Stimulus Starts Entering Bank Accounts

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U.S. stocks were rising Monday as fiscal stimulus begins to reach the economy and interest rates stabilized following their recent rise.

Shortly after the open, the 

Dow Jones Industrial Average

 rose 143 points, or 0.4%, with the 

S&P 500

 up 0.1%. The

Nasdaq Composite

 was down 0.1%.

Stimulus checks are beginning to roll out, which adds to the consumers’ already large safety net of savings and ensures that reopenings can be met with plenty of pent-up demand. Now, the talk seems to be turning to tax increases, which could offset some of that optimism.

Meanwhile, interest rates, which have been rising quickly on firming inflation and economic demand expectations, paused their rise, with the 10-year Treasury yield remaining near1.62%. Investors will be looking ahead to the FOMC meeting, which ends on Wednesday, for a hint as to the direction of the next move.

“Markets are betting that inflation will rise at a faster pace than official estimates. Massive stimulus combined with fast vaccination rollouts and low interest rates are all seen as ingredients for rising prices,” said
Hussein Sayed,
chief market strategist at FXTM.

European stocks advanced, with investors bidding up the region with the least demanding valuations on optimism over the global economy recovering.

The

Stoxx Europe 600

rose 0.3%, taking the year’s gains to 6.4%, outpacing the 5% rise for the S&P 500 and the 4% gain for the

MSCI Asia Pacific.

Asian stocks were mixed, with the

Nikkei 225

up 0.2% in Tokyo and the

Hang Seng

up 0.3% in Hong Kong, while the

Shanghai Composite

fell 1% and the

Sensex

dropped 1.6% in Mumbai.

Data from China showed a big jump in activity over the prior year—with retail sales in January and February up 34% and fixed-asset investments up 35%. The investment reading came in below expectations for a 41% jump.

Flutter Entertainment

shares surged 6% in Dublin, as it said it is considering a U.S. initial public offering of a “small share” of its sports-betting and daily fantasy site FanDuel. FanDuel rival

DraftKings

has surged 508% over the last 12 months.

Shaw Communications

 (ticker: SJR) shares rose 42% after 

Rogers Communications

 (RCI) said it would buy the company, valuing it at $26 billion.

Extended Stay America

 (STAY) climbed 14.5% after agreeing to be bought for $6 billion by 

Blackstone Group

 Inc. (BX) and Starwood Capital Group.

MGM Resorts

 (MGM) shares rose 5.5% after Jefferies upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold.

Dollar General

 (DG) shares rose 1.4% after Atlantic Equities upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral.

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