M&A Buzz and Apple’s Share of Tech Revenue: Market Recap

Fueled by M&A buzz, the U.S. equity markets touched fresh five-year highs on Tuesday. While the action generated a lot of optimism from bulls, others remain concerned that the markets are overbought and could face abrupt declines.

At the close: DJIA: +0.39%, S&P 500: +0.73%, NASDAQ: +0.68%.

On the commodities front, WTI crude (NYSEARCA:USO) followed equities up and increased 0.89 percent to $96.71 per barrel. The March contract expires on Wednesday. Brent remained effectively flat. The yield on the 10-year T-bill increased 0.022 points to 2.023 percent.

On Tuesday, gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) futures for April delivery, the most active contract, fell $5.30 to settle at $1,601.10 per ounce, while silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) futures for March dropped 43 cents to close at $29.42. It was the lowest close for gold in more than six months. Both precious metals traded in the red, despite more chatter of currency wars and a recent report on global gold demand… (Read more.)