U.S. Stocks Drop From Record Highs; Dollar Falls

U.S. stocks retreated from an all-time high as investors awaited the heart of the earnings season and more economic data later in the week. The dollar fell. The S&P 500 was on track for its biggest drop in almost four weeks. Tesla Inc. contributed the most to the decline as one of its electric cars that “no one” appeared to be driving crashed and killed two passengers. Small caps underperformed, with almost 90% of the stocks in the Russell 2000 declining. Treasury yields hovered near the lowest levels in about a month after an earlier jump past 1.6%. Copper prices rallied toward nine-year highs amid increased demand and prospects for faster inflation as global economies rebound.

The economic calendar is light this week until Thursday, with reports on unemployment claims and home sales among those scheduled for release. Robust economic data helped push stocks to another record last week despite concerns surrounding the spread of Covid-19 variants. Traders will look for further confirmation of the private sector’s recovery from the pandemic as the earnings season gathers pace.

These are some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

The S&P 500 fell 0.6% as of 12:01 p.m. New York timeThe Nasdaq 100 fell 1.1%The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5%The Russel 2000 Index fell 1.7%The Stoxx Europe 600 was unchangedThe MSCI World index fell 0.3%

Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.4%The euro rose 0.4% to 1.2031The British pound rose 1.1% to 1.3985The Japanese yen rose 0.7% to 108.07 per dollar

Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 1.583%Germany’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 0.235%Britain’s 10-year yield declined one basis point to 0.755%

Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude was unchanged at $63 a barrelGold futures fell 0.3% to $1,774 an ounce

U.S. Stocks Drop From Record Highs; Dollar Falls: Markets Wrap, Bloomberg, Apr 20