The main news from the global market for the day - on Wednesday at 1:00 PM Eastern Time.

On April 24, 2024, at 1:15 PM Eastern Time, Nasdaq retreated; Tesla shares rose by noon. Stock prices gave up their morning gains and began to decline after two consecutive up sessions. Some traders said that the rise in bond yields—and the bond auction scheduled for later today in the afternoon—triggered some of the volatility. The Main Street bank model is under pressure. First-quarter reports from regional banks show uneven effects of rising interest rates.

Orders for durable goods are boosted by cars and airplanes, but most manufacturers continue to remain stagnant. Orders for durable goods in the U.S. jumped by 2.6% in March, but much of the increase is related to new cars and passenger planes. Orders barely increased outside the transportation sector, indicating ongoing weakness in manufacturing.

Real estate buyers are turning to adjustable-rate mortgages as the rate on 30-year mortgages has exceeded 7%. The volume of mortgage applications fell by 2.7% last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Retail sales in Canada fell by 0.1% in February, and it is expected to remain at the same level in March. The data confirms expectations that the country's central bank will start lowering interest rates as early as June.

Hannon's Reflections:

Uncertainty of the Federal ReserveI claimed my first victim in the form of the Central Bank of Indonesia, which unexpectedly raised interest rates in an attempt to strengthen its declining currency. This is likely not the last instance where central banks will raise rates amid a global shift in expectations for the Fed to postpone rate cuts.

U.S. oil inventories fell for the first time in five weeks. Crude oil stocks in the U.S. dropped by 6.4 million barrels last week, marking the first decline in five weeks, while refineries increased their capacity utilization.

• Investors are fleeing the auction of two-year U.S. and German government bonds, but for different reasons.
• The auctions of two-year government bonds in the US and Germany on Tuesday saw strong demand, although the motivations for investors to participate varied, as expectations for interest rate cuts by the Fed and the eurozone begin to diverge.

The foolishness of the Chinese real estate bubble was obvious, but no one wanted to stop it. Developers, home buyers, and Western bankers ignored the warnings, except for two accountants who began searching for "financial anomalies" and "manipulations." Just a few days before Xi Jinping's visit, the European Union's investigation is increasing pressure on the already tense relations with China. The EU launched two new investigations into allegations of unfair business practices by China just days before Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit.