The S&P 500 was off 0.24% and the Dow was up by 3 points on the day. Events in Cyprus filled the headlines again. The Cyprus government rejected the bank levy proposal in a vote this afternoon. As soon as the vote was finished new plans were on the table and the market averages actually rallied substantially in the final hour of trading. The consensus now is that the Eurogroup demands that Cyprus contributes to the bailout package.
Treasuries rallied again today as the equity markets experienced greater volatility. The long end of the curve flattened as investors moved money into the safe haven of the U.S. bond market.
Commodities were mostly higher with precious metals, grains, and natural gas all trading ahead of the tape. Gold closed near its high up close to 0.50%. Natural gas continued its outperformance with a gain of 2%.
U.S. housing starts and permits increased again in February. Real residential investment is growing at an annual pace of roughly 9% year to date. Housing starts increased 0.8% to an annual rate of 917,000. Housing starts have jumped 50% in a seasonally adjusted annual rate over the last six months.
Financials were put under pressure due to the news from Cyprus. Whenever there are issues with European banks, financials in the U,S. get hurt. Bank of America again traded to a cycle high with a gain of over 1%. Selling remained orderly in the space. Insurance companies were also down slightly.
Industrials were roughly in line with the tape today. Capital equipment was an area of weakness as CAT and Joy Global traded lower.
The positive housing related numbers drove homebuilders/building products stocks higher. Existing home sales data will be released later in the week.
Source: PFS Group
