Stock Market Today: Stocks end down as rebound fizzles; Trump shares soar

Martin Baccardax
7 min read
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Updated at 4:35 PM EDT by Rob Lenihan

Stocks finished slightly lower Tuesday as a tech-powered stock rally lost stream and Wall Street's losing streak stretched into its third day.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.08% to 39,282.83, while the S&P 500 lost 0.28% to 5,203.58 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 0.42% to 16,315.70.

Trump Media & Technology shares, trading under the ticker symbol DJT, finished up 16.1% to $57.99 as they made their Nasdaq debut. Trading had been halted for excessive volatility.

The value of former President Donald Trump's shares was pegged at around $5.5 billion, although lock-up periods and dilution would make it unlikely to monetize until much later in the year..

Tesla shares climbed nearly 3% as the electric vehicle maker moved to promote Full Self-Driving software. one of its key technologies, and potential profit drivers, ahead of next week's crucial first-quarter delivery figures.

Updated at 1:08 PM EDT

Buy American (bonds)

The Treasury closed its second major auction of the week with solid demand for the $67 billion in new 5-year paper on offer, generating bids worth more than $161 billion and drawing firm interest from foreign central banks.

The so-called bid-to-cover ratio, a key demand metric, was unchanged from last month's sale at 2.41, but the percentage of indirect bidders, a proxy for foreign buyers, jumped 10 percentage points to 7045%, according to official auction data.

Updated at 11:58 AM EDT

Ticking higher

Some curious moves in the bond market this morning, with benchmark 10-year note yields rising 2 basis points, to 4.256%, despite a weaker-than-expected reading for March consumer confidence, which likely portends weaker spending, and yesterday's solid 2-year auction.

The Treasury is now gearing up for a record $67 billion in new 5-year notes later today, the second of three coupon auctions that will raise around $176 billion.

Stocks, meanwhile, are holding earlier gains, with the S&P 500 up 15 points, or 0.3%, and the Nasdaq rising 65 points, or 0.39%.

Updated at 11:05 AM EDT

$10 billion

Trump Media & Technology shares, trading under the ticker symbol DJT, neared the $10 billion mark in early Tuesday dealing after rising more than 40% on their Nasdaq debut after being halted by officials for excessive volatility.

The value of former President Donald Trump's shares was pegged at around $5.5 billion, although lock-up periods and dilution would make it unlikely to monetize until much later in the year - when investors may begin to look more closely at the fundamentals of a company with just $5 million in revenues.

Updated at 9:58 AM EDT

Solid start

The S&P 500 is looking to reclaim the 5,300 point mark in the opening half hour of trading, with the benchmark rising 12 points, or 0.22%, on the back of solid tech gains and good breadth across most sectors, apart from energy.

That weakness is holding down the Dow, which is up only 34 points, while the Nasdaq is up 70 points, or 0.43% to start the Tuesday session.

Updated at 9:33 AM EDT

Swipe  ... right?

Visa  (V)  and Mastercard  (MA)  shares nudged higher in early trading after the world's two biggest credit card issuers reached a deal with U.S. merchants to cap so-called 'swipe' fees in move that could save them more than $30 billion over the next five years.

The pair also agreed to lower merchant costs and allow them to offer discounts on fees to individual issuers.

“By negotiating directly with merchants, we have reached a settlement with meaningful concessions that address true pain points small businesses have identified,” said Visa's Kim Lawrence. “Importantly, we are making these concessions while also maintaining the safety, security, innovation, protections, rewards and access to credit that are so important to millions of Americans and to our economy.”

Source: Visa investor relations
Source: Visa investor relations

Updated at 9:11 AM EDT

Can't catch a break

Apple shares were back in the red Tuesday, sliding 0.3% in pre-market dealing following a Bloomberg report, citing official government data, showing iPhone shipments in China fell 33% from a year ago in February, marking the second consecutive monthly decline in the world's biggest smartphone market.

Related: Apple CEO Tim Cook woos China as part of big Asia pitch

Stock Market Today

Stocks ended lower yesterday following a relatively uninspiring session that included a solid $66 billion auction in new 2-year Treasury bonds and a firming of bets on a June interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve.

However, a light calendar of economic releases is slated for the holiday-shortened week and the key PCE Price Index reading is due when markets are closed on Good Friday, and investors appeared reluctant to extend risk in the relatively thin trading volumes that typically characterize pre-Easter trading and the end of the fiscal quarter.

A muted interest-rate backdrop could provide some upside potential for markets Tuesday as Magnificent 7 names such as Tesla  (TSLA) , and Nvidia  (NVDA)  lead the early advancers and chipmakers Intel  (INTC)  and Advanced Micro Devices  (AMD)  notch solid gains.

Another stock on the move in the premarket is Trump Media & Technology Group, which will make its debut on the New York Stock Exchange after completing its merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp.

TMTG, which owns former President Donald Trump's Truth Social social-media network, was marked 29% higher at $64.15, pegging the value of Trump's shares at more than $6 billion. The stock will trade under the ticker DJT.

Bond markets are back on auction watch, following yesterday's successful sale of 2-year notes. The sale saw dealers take on the smallest amount of extra paper since last June as foreign and domestic buyers stepped up.

The Treasury will sell $67 billion in 5-year notes later today and $43 billion in 7-year notes on Wednesday.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields were marked modestly higher from yesterday's levels at 4.234% while 2-year notes were 2 basis points lower at 4.593%.

On Wall Street, futures contracts tied to the S&P 500 are indicating a 20 point opening-bell gain, while those linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average are priced for an 80 point advance.

The tech-focused Nasdaq, meanwhile, is set for a 102 point move to the upside thanks in part to a 3.2% premarket gain for Tesla.

In overseas markets, the regionwide Stoxx 600 was marked 0.11% higher early Frankfurt trading, and just a few tenths percent shy of an all-time high, while Britain's FTSE 100 edged 0.04% lower in London.

Overnight in Asia Japan's Nikkei 225 slipped 0.04% in Tokyo, although much of the market's focus remains pinned to the chances of government intervention in the currency markets to support the weakening yen.

Solid gains for stocks in China, meanwhile, helped the regional MSCI Asia ex-Japan index rise 0.36% into the close of trading.

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