Hot Retail Sales Pressure Equities

U.S. large-cap indexes closed lower as hotter-than-expected U.S. retail sales and rate-sensitive positioning pressured risk assets: SPX fell 0.63%, ^IXIC fell 0.59% and DJIA fell 0.59%. European benchmarks also declined, with FRA40 down 1.14%, UKX down 1.05% and DAX down 0.60%; Asian index data was unavailable.

Energy led sector gains: XLE (+1.45%) outperformed while real estate VNQ (-1.77%) and industrials XLI (-1.41%) were weakest. Top stock movers included CAR (+16.96%), NVTS (+16.17%) and VMI (+11.93%); notable declines included XNDU (-17.12%) and TSCO (-11.69%).

U.S. March retail sales jumped 1.7% m/m (gasoline sales +15.5%), surprising to the upside and prompting dollar strength and higher Treasury yields that weighed on equities. Kevin Warsh's Senate testimony pledging Fed independence and expressing a preference for a smaller Fed balance sheet moderated some political-risk concerns around monetary policy. UK ILO unemployment unexpectedly fell to 4.9% in the three months to February (prev. 5.2%), highlighting labor-market resilience.

UnitedHealth (UNH) beat Q1 expectations, raised full-year adjusted EPS guidance and announced at least $2.0 billion in planned repurchases, triggering a sharp rally in UNH and lifting insurer peers. RTX's (RTX) Q1 beat and guidance raise supported defense names, while Adobe (ADBE) approved a $25 billion repurchase authorization and Interactive Brokers (IBKR) reported Q1 results and raised its quarterly dividend, each providing stock-specific support. FG Communities completed the acquisition of a community in Asheville. Announced transactions included BrightNight's acquisition of Cordelio Power's joint-venture interest, adding 6 GW to its independently controlled project portfolio, and SoundHound AI's agreement to acquire LivePerson.