A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike

Dolan

Investors appear happy to sit on punchy first quarter stock

gains as March drifts to quiet finish, with the dollar back

under wraps overseas, interest rate markets calm and volatility

subdued into the Easter break for many countries.

A slightly downbeat Monday was a mixed bag of fortunes all

told.

Under-pressure planemaker Boeing ( BA ) popped more than 1%

after announcing a broad management shake-up and saying CEO Dave

Calhoun would step down from his position at the end of 2024.

Artificial intelligence leaders Nvidia ( NVDA ) and Micron

Technology ( MU ) pushed higher, but reports China is set to

phase out U.S. microprocessors supplied by Intel ( INTC ) and

AMD from government personal computers and servers

knocked those stocks back.

A decent two-year Treasury auction kept a lid on

bond yields, while Federal Reserve officials offered a

smorgasbord of different views on the policy outlook that

shifted little in futures market expectations.

Sales of new U.S. single-family homes unexpectedly fell in

February after mortgage rates increased during the month, but

the underlying trend remained strong amid a chronic shortage of

previously owned houses on the market.

With stock markets closed for Good Friday's release of the

February PCE inflation gauge, a March consumer confidence

readout later today may grab attention.

Elsewhere, bitcoin jumped back above $70,000 on

Monday for the first time since March 15 - with little obvious

news behind it, as is so often the case. It held those gains

overnight and was hovering about $71,000 early on Tuesday.

Grayscale Bitcoin Trust recorded $1.9 billion in

outflows last week, tipping the group of U.S. spot bitcoin

exchange-traded funds into net outflows for the week ending

March 22, according to data from BitMEX Research.

Overseas, China stocks rebounded about 0.5% and

the offshore yuan firmed another notch after last week's

swoon.

China's President Xi Jinping will meet with American

business leaders in Beijing on Wednesday, according to three

sources with knowledge of the matter, in a follow up to his

November dinner with U.S. investors in San Francisco.

The meeting was proposed by chief executive of U.S. insurer

Chubb, Evan Greenberg, according to one source. Other

attendees include Stephen Orlins, president of the National

Committee on U.S.-China Relations, and Craig Allen, president of

the U.S.-China Business Council.

Japanese and European stock markets were flat, as were crude

oil prices. U.S. stock futures were marginally higher ahead of

the open - with Q1's 10% gains in the S&P500 and Nasdaq

holding and implied volatility in stocks and

bonds subdued.

The dollar edged back further from Friday's one-month

highs. Dollar/yen ebbed a touch amid wariness about Bank

of Japan intervention, but held above the 151 level.

In politics, a New York judge's decision on Monday to set an

April 15 trial date for Donald Trump's criminal hush-money case

ups the odds the former president will face at least one verdict

that could complicate his bid to retake the White House.

And in shocking general news, Baltimore's 1.6-mile Francis

Scott Key Bridge collapsed and vehicles plunged into the river

early on Tuesday after a ship collided with a support pylon.

Rescuers were searching the water for survivors.

Key diary items that may provide direction to U.S. markets later

on Tuesday:

* US March consumer confidence, Feb durable goods orders,

Richmond Fed March business survey, Dallas Fed March service

sector survey, Philadelphia Fed service sector survey, US Jan

house prices

* European Central Bank chief economist Philip Lane speaks

* US corporate earnings: McCormick

* US Treasury sells 5-year notes

* French President Emmanuel Macron visits Brazil

(By Mike Dolan, editing by Christina Fincher,

[email protected])