(The Closing Bell will be updated sometime after 4:00 PM CDST to include the latest updates from IBD and Bloomberg Evening Briefing.)
FYI: U.S. stocks advanced Thursday, with the S&P 500 hitting an intraday record, after the U.S. Federal Reserve suggested it would cut interest rates if the economic outlook doesn’t improve in the coming months.
The broad index rose 0.95% to 2954, topping its April 30 closing high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 249 points, or 0.94%, to 26753. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.80%.
The rebound comes after trade tensions and uncertainty over central-bank policy rattled investors last month, with stocks posting their worst May since 2010. But the potential for thawing trade relations between Washington and Beijing have helped lift share prices this month, putting the S&P 500 on pace for its best June since 1955.
Stocks eased from session highs in early afternoon trading. One reason why: A drop in bond yields weighed on financial stocks, which slipped 0.3%. A decline in bond yields, especially for longer-dated debt, tends to hurt bank stocks because their profit margins tend to expand when there is a bigger difference between short-term deposit costs and longer-term lending rates.
U.S. 10-year Treasury yields declined below 2% for the first time since 2016, falling to 1.996% on Thursday, according to Tradeweb, from 2.023% Wednesday. Bond yields move in the opposite direction to prices.
For the financial sector, there’s a big overhang with the banks now because having lower rates isn’t good for earnings growth,” said R.J. Grant, director of equity trading at KBW Inc. “Some investors had been positioning for a less-dovish Fed, buying some beaten-up corners of the market like financials thinking the Fed would be more hawkish. That didn’t happen. More than anything, it set some positioning off kilter."
Energy shares in the S&P 500 led the broader market higher, gaining 1.8%. The moves came as a drop in the dollar sent prices for dollar-denominated commodities sharply higher. The global oil benchmark Brent crude rose 3.7% to $64.14 a barrel amid rising Middle East tensions.
The dollar dropped broadly against major currencies. The WSJ Dollar Index, which measures the dollar against a basket of currencies, fell 0.6%. Meanwhile, gold surged 3% as the prospect of lower interest rates spurred investors to seek returns from alternative assets.
In Thursday’s action, Slack Technologies made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange, opening at $38.50, which is 48% above a so-called reference price of $26. That gives it a fully diluted valuation of about $23.2 billion.
Elsewhere, the Bank of Japan and the Bank of England both left their benchmark interest rates unchanged.
The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 stock index climbed 0.4%. China’s Shanghai Stock Exchange led gains in Asia, jumping 2.4%.
Regards,
Ted
Bloomberg Evening Briefing:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-20/your-evening-briefingMarketWatch:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-poised-to-surge-to-highest-level-in-812-months-gold-hits-5-year-high-as-fed-signals-cuts-2019-06-20/printWSJ:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/stocks-extend-gains-after-the-fed-as-bond-yields-dip-11561017273Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-19/bonds-rise-on-dovish-fed-asia-stocks-seen-flat-markets-wrap?srnd=premiumIBD:
https://www.investors.com/market-trend/stock-market-today/dow-jones-smokes-bears-again-time-to-sell-cannabis-stock/CNBC:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/20/stock-market-dow-futures-higher-after-fed-raises-rate-cut-hopes.htmlReuters:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks/sp-500-hits-record-high-as-fed-signals-rate-cuts-idUSKCN1TL1CYU.K:
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-stocks/exporter-heavy-ftse-100-soars-as-boe-growth-forecast-cut-hurts-pound-idUKKCN1TL0MBEurope:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-stocks/fed-fuelled-rally-sends-european-shares-to-six-week-highs-idUSKCN1TL0MFAsia:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/asian-markets-rise-as-fed-leaves-itself-wiggle-room-hopes-for-trade-talks-rekindled-2019-06-19/printBonds:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/20/us-treasury-yields-lower-after-federal-reserve-meeting.htmlCurrencies:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/20/forex-market-fed-rate-cut-bets-dovish-ecb-in-focus.htmlOil:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/20/oil-market-us-stockpiles-upcoming-opec-meeting-in-focus.htmlGold:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/20/gold-prices-at-high-after-us-fed-hints-at-rate-cut.htmlWSJ: Markets At A Glance:
https://markets.wsj.com/usMajor ETFs % Change:
https://www.barchart.com/etfs-funds/etf-monitorSPDR's Sector Tracker:
http://www.sectorspdr.com/sectorspdr/tools/sector-trackerSPDR's Bloomberg Sector Performance Pie Chart:
https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/sectorsCurrent Futures:
https://finviz.com/futures.ashx 
