Stock market today: Live updates

Wall Street strategists don’t seem convinced that US stocks are the best place to look ahead, despite a strong first quarter.

Against this backdrop, where should investors put their money?

This is a professional idea.

— Xavier Ong

The Reserve Bank of Australia kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.6%.

“The decision to keep interest rates on hold this month has given the Board more time to assess the state and outlook of the economy,” the central bank said in a statement.

This will be the first stop in the RBA’s rate hike cycle since it began raising rates in April 2022.

The Australian dollar fell after falling to 0.6782 against the US dollar.

– Lim Hijie

Evercore expects a recession this year as the effects of the Federal Reserve’s tightening monetary policy continue to ripple through the economy.

“If you think about it, [we’ve had] Tightening for one year. …if you think about all the tightening to us, [right now] The tightening effect is likely just the beginning, not the end,” Evercore ISI senior managing director Julien Emanuel told CNBC’s “Fast Money.”

“I think we could have more recessions ahead,” Emmanuel said. there is,” he said.

Emanuel expects corporate earnings to soften in the second quarter of 2023, which could cast doubt on Nasdaq’s strong year-to-date rally. In 2023, the tech-centric index rose 17.3%.

He said Evercore added small caps to its portfolio today as a defense in the current market.

“Small caps are actually giving more weight than usual to more defensive sectors like healthcare and energy, which we think makes a lot of sense here,” said Emmanuel. increase.

“Basically, what it does is provide put option protection through high free cash flow. It’s protected by free cash flow, and some of the call options are in an environment where earnings forecasts are being made across a broad range of stocks. Added.

Analysts at JP Morgan said the move by OPEC Plus was a “preemptive” move and had expected similar measures to be taken sooner.

“We view the current supply reduction as a precautionary measure to ensure that the surplus that began accumulating in global oil markets after mid-2022 does not widen until late 2023, with the global economy expected to drop by nearly 400 basis points. It has slowed following a cumulative rise in “since 2022,” analysts including Natasha Kaneva wrote in a note late Sunday.

In contrast to Goldman Sachs’ increased forecast for Brent crude to rise to $95 a barrel by December 2023, JP Morgan said its forecast for the second quarter of this year remains at $89. Yes, rising to $94 by the fourth quarter of 2023, ending the year at $96 a barrel.

– Lee Ji Hye

Stock futures are largely unchanged to open Monday night.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are down 30 points or 0.09%. S&P 500 futures were down 0.08% and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.14%.

In normal trading, the Dow was up 327 points (0.98%) and the S&P 500 was up 0.37%. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.27%.

— Tanaya Machel