Growth Stocks Rally as Investors Favor Risk with Yields Pausing Rally

Equities

US growth stocks rallied significantly during yesterday's session, and the strong performance continued after market-close where the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the S&P500 soared, significantly outperforming the Dow Jones. The US 10-year yields paused the upside rally, giving room for growth stocks to gain on. The three benchmarks finished the first quarter in green, but lately, the rotation between growth and cyclical stocks was the real play, and it is clear with March's performance. President Biden unveiled his infrastructure plan which exceeds $2 trillion, but concerned investors about financing it by raising corporate taxes to 28%. Market participants are looking forward to the ISM Manufacturing PMI for March later today to grasp the latest insight into the manufacturing sector. The Nasdaq futures rallied to a two-week high of 13220, the S&P500 futures logged record 3982, while Dow Jones Industrial futures dipped to 32840.

USD

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, held steady near 93.23 as investors await economic data. The ISM Manufacturing PMI will be published later today, giving investors information about the sector's recovery, but they will be looking carefully for the price component. Also, the initial jobless claims will be reported today, and the March jobs report tomorrow, to give the latest update on the labor market. Investors are optimistic about the reading, especially as the ADP non-farm employment change rose by 517 thousand. The USDJPY held steady near 110.72, the EURUSD inched higher to $1.1740, and the GBPUSD recovered to $1.3770.

Metals

Precious metals prices pushed higher as the Treasury yields eased a little from their interim top. The price of a gold ounce recovered to $1720, the price of a silver ounce rallied to $24.48, and palladium rose settled higher for the second consecutive day at $2628.

Oil

Oil prices continued to trade in a tight range awaiting OPEC+ decision on output. The Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee concluded its meeting yesterday without issuing any recommendations. However, market participants are expecting producers to keep supply discipline, especially as Europe falls into lockdowns which would disrupt the oil-demand recovery. The West Texas Intermediate crude May delivery rallied to $60.50, and Brent blend June contract hovered near $63.50.

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