The major U.S. indexes began the week on a positive note, with the S&P 500 and NASDAQ ending their six-day losing streaks. Ahead of today’s market open, stock futures are pointing to a favorable start to today’s session. In overnight trading, markets in Asia closed mostly higher. Meanwhile, stocks in Europe are in the plus column. Elsewhere, oil prices have moved lower, with West Texas Intermediate down about 1.0%, to around $81.10 a barrel.
Investors will likely put the latest geopolitical uncertainties and concerns over the Federal Reserve’s next monetary policy move on the back burner, at least temporarily, to focus on earnings data coming out this week. In particular, a number of high-profile tech companies are scheduled to announce first-quarter results.
Tesla (TSLA), the leading manufacturer of electric vehicles (EVs), will be in the spotlight as it reports after today’s close. The company’s stock has shed more than 40% of its market value so far in 2024, as price cuts and rising competition from China have raised investor concerns about near-term profitability. Additionally, Meta Platforms (META, the parent company of Facebook) is due to release its latest results on Wednesday, while Alphabet (GOOG, the parent company of Google) and Microsoft (MSFT) will be reporting on Thursday.
In economic news, the Census Bureau is scheduled to release new home sales data this morning. Consensus estimates were calling for March to show a small uptick, to an annualized 668,000 homes, compared to 662,000 units the month before. Tomorrow, we’ll get the numbers on durable goods orders for March, where expectations are calling for a month-to-month increase of 2.5% (up from the 1.3% reported for February). On Thursday, the Department of Labor will release its latest figures for initial jobless claims. Analysts are calling for a modest increase to 215,000, versus 212,000 the week before. That same day, the National Association of Realtors will announce pending home sales for March, which are widely expected to show a month-over-month increase of about 0.9%, compared to a 1.6% rise in February.
The week wraps up with Friday’s release of the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Price Index from the Department of Commerce. In keeping with recent inflation data, Wall Street is looking for the index to show an increase of around 2.6% for the 12 months through March, a tick higher from the 2.5% advance through February.
Summing up Monday’s moves, the Dow Jones Industrials advanced 253 points, or 0.7%, the S&P 500 gained 43 points (0.9%), and the tech-laden NASDAQ was up 169 points (1.1%). – Mario Ferro
At the time of this article’s writing, the author did not have positions in any of the companies mentioned.
CLICK HERE for more information on our services or call 1-800-VALUELINE (1-800-825-8354). Our account managers are available Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM Eastern Time.
