US Equities Fall as Treasury Buybacks Unnerve Markets Ahead of NVIDIA Earnings
US equities ended the week lower ahead of key data releases and events. Despite this, markets closed higher on Friday after purchasing managers' index (PMI) data showed US business activity expanding at its strongest pace in over four years.
The PMI data was a positive sign for the economy, but it wasn't enough to offset concerns about rising bond yields and energy prices. The US Treasury Department's plan to buy back older Treasury securities has unnerved investors, who see it as potentially inflationary. This has led to increased flows out of the US dollar (USD) and into safe-haven assets like gold, silver, and Bitcoin.
NVIDIA's upcoming earnings report on Thursday will be closely watched, particularly its guidance on data-centre demand and how soaring memory costs might impact margins. The company notified customers of artificial intelligence (AI) server price hikes of over 15% in many cases.