STOCKS SLIP: Here's what you need to know
However, all three major indices still finished in the red.
First up, the scoreboard:
- Dow: 20,629.16, -28.86, (-0.14%)
- S&P 500: 2,350.59, -6.39, (-0.27%)
- Nasdaq: 5,856.26, -24.67, (-0.42%)
- US 10-year yield: 2.305%, -0.056
- WTI crude oil: $53.23, +0.14, +0.26%
1. United Airlines' shares plunged after forcibly kicking a passenger off a plane. Shares were down by 2.6% in the afternoon, recovering some of their losses after being down by about 4.3% earlier in the day.
2. The Japanese yen spiked by 1.1% to its highest level since November. The current appreciation of the yen, which is traditionally considered a "risk-off" trade, comes amid a time of heightened geopolitical uncertainty in North Korea and Syria, as well the looming French elections. In other FX news, the Korean won closed down for the sixth consecutive sessions, and for 10 out of the past 11.
3. Job openings rose more than expected, while hires fell. Job openings in the US increased to 5.743 million in February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The quits rate, which is a gauge of how confident workers are in being able to find new jobs if they resign, slipped to 2.1% from its postrecession high of 2.2%.
4. Trump said small businesses were "unable to borrow from banks" - but small-business owners disagree. The president blamed the post-financial-crisis Dodd-Frank banking regulations, which were enacted in July 2010, and higher capital requirements for the largest financial institutions. Trump said he planned to "streamline" or "eliminate" Dodd-Frank to allow small businesses to borrow again. Trump's narrative, however, is the opposite of what small-business owners are saying.
5. Treasury yields sank amid renewed uncertainty surrounding geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and on the Korean peninsula. Aggressive buying has yields down as much as 7 basis points in the belly of the curve , and testing their recent lows. Meanwhile, bitcoin spiked.
6. Dialog Semiconductor plunged after an analyst warned Apple may use fewer of its chips. Shares fell by as much as 16% on Tuesday after Karsten Iltgen, an analyst at Bankhaus Lampe, said in a note that there is "strong evidence" Apple is working on its own power-management integrated circuits, according to Bloomberg.
ADDITIONALLY:
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RAY DALIO: I don't think we're going to have a radical change in the economy.
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