US stocks weekly: Yield breather
RPT-BUZZ-US stocks weekly: Yield breather Repeats from Friday with no changes to text. Updates graphic
** S&P 500 .SPX rises 1.2% in choppy trading as geopolitical clashes, bond yields remain in focus .N
** Dow .DJI adds 0.9%, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gains 0.6%
** S&P 500 breakout faced its first test
** Small caps .RUT teeter on the edge of correction, then rally into Fri close; RUT ends at 2,807, though still down for a fifth straight week
** And now Nasdaq breadth divergence nears a test
** In any event, momentum MTUM.K remains the factor to beat
** US 10-Year Treasury yield US10YT=RR poised to snap five straight weeks of advances and finish around 5.24% as note and bond auctions help soothe inflation jitters US/
** Nearly every sector gets a reprieve: Consumer Staples and Utilities most relieved, while just Technology and Industrials pressured
** Consumer Staples .SPLRCS lift 4%. Cigarette, alcohol stocks among biggest sector winners as investment officer points to rotation into defensive plays out of growth, AI names
** Utilities .SPLRCU ascend 3.9%. Constellation Energy CEG.O jumps after Google parent Alphabet GOOGL.O enters into multi-year power deal, and sparks rally in nuclear and utility firms including Vistra VST.N and NRG Energy NRG.N
** Energy .SPNY leaps 3.6%. Group tracks jump in oil prices amid increased attacks on shipping in Middle East, hurricane risks O/R
** Consumer Discretionary .SPLRCD up 3.1%. Chipotle CMG.N rises on Thurs after report Starbucks SBUX.O has explored a takeover deal
** Real estate .SPLRCR climbs 1.8%. Cell tower operators Crown Castle CCI.N, American Tower AMT.N and SBA Communications SBAC.O surge on SpaceX spectrum deal
** Communication Services .SPLRCL up 0.8%. Though AT&T T.N, Verizon VZ.N and T-Mobile US TMUS.O hammered as SpaceX SPCX.O strikes spectrum acquisition deal, positioning Elon Musk's Starlink Mobile to challenge legacy wireless giants
** Tech .SPLRCT ticks down 0.3%. PTC PTC.O surges 35% on the week after France's Schneider Electric SCHN.PA agrees to buy US software firm for ~$22.6 billion
Semiconductor index .SOX stumbles 4.3%. This as Australia's Firmus, data center operator backed by Nvidia NVDA.O, scraps $5 billion IPO, adding to angst over AI-sector valuations, rising borrowing costs and sustainability of massive infrastructure spending
** Industrials .SPLRCI slip 0.4%. C.H. Robinson CHRW.O skids on $5.8 billion acquisition of freight logistics rival RXO RXO.N
Farm-equipment makers Caterpillar CAT.N and Deere DE.N slide as US regulators probe raises scrutiny concerns over potential anticompetitive practices
** Meanwhile, AAII pessimism eases; investors still favor equities. And in Sept, equity exposure hits highest since Dec 2017
** SPX performance YTD:
(Lance Tupper and Terence Gabriel are Reuters market analysts. The views expressed are their own)
