(Bloomberg) — U.S. stock futures turned lower and Treasuries erased losses after a report that the U.S. will seek to pause Johnson & Johnson vaccines amid health concerns, potentially dealing a blow to efforts to reopen the world’s largest economy.
Futures on the S&P 500 fell and small cap contracts lost almost 1% after the New York Times reported that Federal health agencies on Tuesday will call for an immediate pause in use of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose coronavirus vaccine to investigate safety issues over blood clots.
Bond yields steadied before consumer-price index numbers due at 8:30 a.m. New York time. Fund managers across the world now see inflation, a taper tantrum and higher taxes as bigger risks than Covid-19, according to the latest Bank of America Corp. survey.
Although policymakers at the U.S. central bank expect a bump in consumer prices to be short-lived, many traders disagree, with fears of faster CPI playing out across duration-heavy assets from bonds to tech stocks.
“A jump in U.S. CPI today is well-flagged, but it should be a wake up call to what we think will be stickier inflation in the coming months, if not years,” strategists at ING Groep NV including Padhraic Garvey wrote in a client note. “This would render the Fed’s position increasingly stretched.”
“Policy-sensitive” five-year securities way be most vulnerable to a deeper selloff, according to the ING strategists. The Treasury plans to auction 30-year bonds Tuesday after sales of three- and 10-year notes attracted decent demand Monday.
Elsewhere, modest gains in European equities were led by cyclicals such as retailers, travel companies and miners, while utilities lagged.
Bitcoin jumped to an all-time high as the mood in cryptocurrencies turned bullish before Coinbase Global Inc. goes public. Oil rose above $60 a barrel.
Some key events to watch this week:
Banks and financial firms begin reporting first-quarter earnings, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp., Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.The U.S. releases inflation data Tuesday.Economic Club of Washington hosts Fed Chair Jerome Powell for a moderated Q&A on Wednesday.U.S. Federal Reserve releases Beige Book on Wednesday.U.S. data including initial jobless claims, industrial production and retail sales come Thursday.China economic growth, industrial production and retail sales figures are on Friday.
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