US Bonds Up Before $58 Billion Sale Amid Trade Talks: Markets Wrap

Wall Street investors closely monitoring trade discussions between the US and China drove Treasuries higher, with a $58 billion bond auction set to test the appetite for American securities amid President Donald Trump’s fast-evolving tariff war.

A quiet session on the economic front saw traders driving US yields down ahead of the three-year note auction, the first in a trio of offerings that will culminate in Thursday’s sale of 30-year debt. The S&P 500 edged up, trading nearly 2% away from its all-time high. The dollar was little changed.

The US and China resumed talks as the world’s largest economies try to agree to allow exports of key tech and industrial goods and avoid escalating their trade war. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said talks are going well.

“Today is lining up to be fairly quiet as far as scheduled catalysts are concerned,” said Tom Essaye at The Sevens Report. “However, any materially positive or negative trade talk headlines out of London where US and Chinese negotiations remain underway, could meaningfully move markets today before focus turns to tomorrow’s critical May CPI release.”

Data Wednesday is expected to show US consumers probably saw slightly faster inflation in May, notably for merchandise, as companies gradually pass along higher import duties. Prices of goods and services, excluding volatile food and energy costs, rose 0.3% in May, the most in four months.

• Mark Zuckerberg, frustrated with Meta Platforms Inc.’s shortfalls in AI, is assembling a team of experts to achieve artificial general intelligence, recruiting from a brain trust of AI researchers and engineers who’ve met with him in recent weeks at his homes in Lake Tahoe and Palo Alto.

• McDonald’s Corp. dropped as Redburn Atlantic slapped the burger chain with its sole sell rating, saying shifting consumer patterns due to weight-loss drugs and inflation are cause for concern.

• Citigroup Inc. is set to put aside hundreds of millions of dollars more than it did last quarter to account for potential losses on loans and credit cards it issues to its clients, a sign of likely worsening consumer health that runs counter to analysts’ expectations.

• Paramount Global plans to cut several hundred employees on Tuesday due to a continuing decline in the cable-TV industry and the broader economic landscape.

• UBS Group AG fell as analysts warned that new capital demands imposed by Switzerland could crimp the bank’s competitiveness and its ability to make investor payouts.

• Novo Nordisk A/S climbed after a report that activist hedge fund Parvus Asset Management has built a stake as the Danish drugmaker struggles to keep its lead in the obesity market.

• Tencent Music Entertainment Group has agreed to acquire podcasting startup Ximalaya Inc. in a deal that would accelerate its push to become China’s answer to Spotify Technology SA.

• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the main chipmaker for Nvidia Corp. and Apple Inc., reported a 40% jump in May revenue after companies stockpiled chips in response to mounting trade uncertainty.