US stocks end higher as bond yield easing boosts sentiment

4:25pm: Dow Jones rose slowly most of the day The Dow climbed steadily over the course of the day, ending up 103 points, 0.3%, at 32,731. The Nasdaq added 162 points, 1.2%, to 13,378, and the S&P picked up 27 points, 0.7%, to close at 3,941. Tech stocks were lifted in part by a drop in bond yields. The 10-year Treasury yield declined to 1.68% after the metric hit a 14-month high last week, according to CNBC. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) was among the beneficiaries, and its shares improved 2.3% to $670. 12:10pm: US benchmarks in the green US stocks were higher at mid-session as bond yields, which have been putting traders off shares recently, began to ease back. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added around 52 points at 32,680, while the S&P 500 added around 25 points. The tech-laden Nasdaq exchange advanced over 163 points to stand at 13,378. The US ten year-Treasury yield was down around 2.2 basis points at around 1.68% on Monday, down from 1.729% at the end of last trading week. The Federal Reserve will again be in focus today after the fall-out from the policy meeting last week, which as ever, saw the timing of any interest rate rise, scrutinized. Traders today await comments from chairman Jerome Powell when he speaks at an event hosted by the Bank for International Settlements. Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin speaking earlier said reportedly he was hopeful that the USA is "on the brink of completing this recovery". 10am: Proactive North America headlines: Avalon GloboCare Corp (NASDAQ:AVCO) expands its MIT co-development research program to fight cancer spread Gevo Inc (NASDAQ:GEVO) names industry veteran Paul Bloom as its CTO and Chief Innovation Officer Victory Square Technologies Inc (CSE:VST) (OTCMKTS:VSQTF) portfolio company Immersive Tech teams up with YouTuber Chris Ramsay to offer UNCONTAINED AR experience Safe-T Group Ltd (NASDAQ:SEFT) (TASE:SFET) posts 50% revenue growth in 2020 and IP proxy sales bump Energy Fuels Inc (NYSEAMERICAN:UUUU) (TSE:EFR) (FRA:VO51) rounds out 2020 with robust balance sheet as it pays off all debts and has $40.2M in working capital RedHill Biopharma Ltd (NASDAQ:RDHL) provides opaganib treatment under compassionate use exemption for several Swiss patients suffering from coronavirus pneumonia Starton Therapeutics Inc says target to start Phase 1 study for STAR-LLD for chronic lymphocytic leukemia remains on track for 4Q GlobeX Data Ltd (OTCQB:SWISF)(CSE:SWIS)(FRA:GDT) secures C$1.25M in financing commitments to market Swiss-hosted Sekur secure email HighGold Mining Inc (CVE:HIGH) (OTCQX:HGGOF) hails regional exploration at Johnson Tract in Alaska, which shows widespread, diverse mineralization over large area Aurelius Minerals Inc (CVE:AUL) (OTCQB:AURQF) (FRA:1GA) announces stock now trading on OTCQB in New York Golden Minerals Company (TSE:AUM) (NYSE:AUMN) (FRA:7GB) reveals expansion drilling at its Rodeo Gold Mine in Mexico Jack Nathan Medical Corp (CVE:JNH) (OTCQB:JNHMF) completes acquisition of flagship medical clinic located within Walmart Supercentre in Vaughan, Ontario MindMed (MindMed) Inc (NEO:MMED) (OTCQB:MMEDF) (FRA:MMQ) added to two leading FTSE Russell indexes Idaho Champion Gold Mines Canada Inc (CSE:ITKO) (OTCQB:GLDRF) (FRA:1QB1) extends footprint of gold system at its Baner Gold Project in Idaho Group Eleven Resources Corp (CVE:ZNG) (OTCMKTS:GRLVF) (FRA:3GE)  encouraged by its first drilling at Gortdrum prospect, a former copper mine in Ireland CO2 GRO Inc (CVE:GROW) (OTCQB:BLONF) (FRA:4021) initiates a commercial feasibility project of its CO2 Delivery Solutions with a macadamia nursery in South Africa Fidelity Minerals Corp (CVE:FMN) (FRA:S5GM) (OTCMKTS:SAIDF) announces plans to raise up to C$600,000 in private placing ImagineAR Inc (CSE:IP) (OTCQB:IPNFF) (FRA:GMS1) teams up with First Tube Media to deliver AR to GrubHub Sound Bites concert series 9:38am: Wall Street starts mixed The main indices on Wall Street have started the week on a mixed note as the opening bell rang in New York on Monday. In the first minutes of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.24% to 32,551 while the S&P 500 climbed 0.06% to 3,915 and the Nasdaq rose 0.78% to 13,318. Traders seem somewhat unsure of which way to turn, however with bond yields retreating and comments expected from Fed chair Jerome Powell later today the mood could find a more solid outlook. However, the macro picture may not be off to the best start as the Chicago Fed national activity index reported a fall to -1.09 in February, its first negative reading since April last year. 8:00am: Wall Street set for mixed open As often seems to be the case these days, the Dow Jones is the odd one out among US indices, with the index set to open lower. Spread betting quotes suggest the Dow will dip 19 points to 32,609, leaving it out of step with the broader-based S&P 500, which is set to pen around 5 points firmer at 3,918 and the tech-laced Nasdaq 100, which is looking at a 98 point advance to 12,965. “Risk markets are taking a short breather from last week risk-off and oil is stabilising,” said Stephen Innes, the chief global market strategist at Axi. “Still, the swift moves in yields showed the Fed's complacency around upcoming inflation might have unintended and lasting consequences. “It’s a busy week ahead, so the pause makes sense as markets will continue to digest the reopening boom and higher yields cycle through the lens of a series of crucial and timely PMI releases. “There will also be a healthy heaping of Fedspeak this week, including two appearances by Fed Chair Powell, which will be sure to keep investors on their toes,” Innes added. The Federal Reserve’s chair, Jerome Powell, is set to speak today as part of a panel on central bank innovation. Let joy be unconfined. On the US macro front, existing home sales data is set to be released today, with the market expecting February’s number to slip to 6.5mln from 6.69mln in January. “US existing home sales are expected to be down 2.8% mom [month-on-month]. This is a bit less than tomorrow’s new home sales, which are forecast to be down 5.2% mom; however I think people are likely to ignore these figures or at least discount their importance as being heavily affected by the bad weather during the month,” suggested Marshall Gittler at BDSwiss. Three things to watch for on Monday: Firms in the earnings diary at the start of the week include B2B IT services firm SYNNEX Corp (NYSE:SNX), software group Viant Technology Inc (NASDAQ:DSP) and agricultural products maker Raven industries Inc (NASDAQ:RAVN) The ongoing non-fungible token (NFT) craze also seems likely to get a look in as an NFT auction over the first-ever Tweet, made 15 eyars ago by Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) CEO Jack Dorsey, enters its final day of bidding There could also be interest on the geopolitical front amid the ongoing fallout in Turkey after its strongman president Recep Tayipp Erdogan sacked the country’s central bank chief, sending the value of the lira currency tumbling