Dow Jones, Treasury Yields Climb on Vaccination Milestones. ASX 200 May Rise

Dow Jones Futures, 10-Year Treasury, Vaccinations, ASX 200 – Asia Pacific Indices Briefing

Recommended by Daniel Dubrovsky

What does it take to trade around news?

Monday Wall Street Trading Session Recap

Wall Street may have been closed for the Presidents’ Day holiday, but that didn’t prevent global equities from extending gains over the past 24 hours. Futures tracking the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 climbed to start the week. In Europe, stocks rallied with the Euro Stoxx 50 gaining 1.04%. The UK’s benchmark FTSE 100 was a notable standout, soaring 2.52% on Monday.

A lack of major economic event risks meant that the focus for investors largely remained on broader fundamental themes, like fiscal stimulus expectations and vaccine rollouts – as expected. The UK hit 15 million Covid-19 vaccinations, prompting calls for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ease lockdowns, contributing to strong gains in the FTSE 100.

In the US, about 78% of shots delivered have been administered – according to Bloomberg. Now, more citizens have been vaccinated with at least one shot than there have been confirmed cases since the pandemic began. Crude oil prices and energy shares got a particular boost as extreme cold weather in Texas and power outages prompted concerns about supply.

Still, the reflation trade has been picking up momentum. As Treasuries opened for trading after the holiday, the 10-year rate soared by 4 basis points, climbing to 1.25%. The 30-year yield also joined in on the action. Despite rising longer-dated government bond yields, equities have remained on their broader upward trajectory, supported by loose policy from central banks and aggressive amounts of fiscal stimulus.

Dow Jones Technical Analysis

Dow Jones futures are climbing deeper into record highs, with the Tuesday candle aiming to close above the 38.2% Fibonacci extension level at 31551. However, negative RSI divergence does show that upside momentum is faltering. This can at times precede a turn lower. There may be room for sharp losses that take the index towards rising support from March 2020, which may reinstate the focus to the upside.