Wall Street Close: S&P 500, Nasdaq print mild gains with eyes on Fed

• Wall Street benchmarks closed mixed despite last hour run-up.
• Mixed signals from inflation expectations battle US Treasury yields recovery ahead of FOMC.
• Tech gains, Lordstown slumps and pharmacy companies traded haywire.

US equities begin the week on mixed footing but ended up print mild gains except for Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI), on Monday. Market fears ahead of Wednesday’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) contrast Treasury yields amid a light calendar but investors booked intraday profits.

With the recovery in US inflation expectations, per data from NY Fed and St. Louis Fed, jitters over the Fed’s tapering during Wednesday’s FOMC gain momentum. However, an uptick in the 10-year Treasury yields back the buyers during a quiet start to the week.

The strongest run in the US Treasury yields in over a month backed tech-shares and hence Nasdaq turned out to the day’s winner with 0.74% gains, or 104.72 points, to 14,174.14. S&P 500 Futures came in second with 7.71 points of upside, or 0.18%, to 4,25.15. However, DJI bucked the trend by closing 85.85 points lower, or 0.25% down, to 34,393.75.

Among technology shares, Tesla gained an additional advantage from comments of owner Elon Musk suggesting the re-acceptance of Bitcoin. However, Lordstown Motors Corporation slumped over 16% as Chief Executive Steve Burns and Chief Financial Officer Julio Rodriguez resigned following the firm’s warning to not have enough cash for next year.

Shares of Novavax and Moderna dropped despite conveying positive developments while shares of GlaxoSmithKline and iTeos Therapeutics benefited from the news of their collaboration. Furthermore, Rapt Therapeutics skyrocketed on news of success over the moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis, or eczema, drug trials.

Looking forward, US Retail Sales for May month can offer short-term direction to the markets but major attention is given to the FOMC's signal for future moves, as no actual action is expected during Wednesday’s meeting.

Read: US May Retail Sales Preview: Analyzing major pairs' reaction to previous releases