NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks ticked higher Monday to begin a week packed with potentially market-moving reports.
The S&P 500 rose 16.21 points, or 0.3%, to 5,116.17, coming off its best week since November.
This week will see about a third of all the companies in the S&P 500 reporting how much profit they made during the first three months of the year.
So far reports have largely been better than expected, with roughly half the S&P 500’s reports in, highlighted last week by Alphabet, Microsoft and others.
AP AUDIO: Stock market today: Wall Street drifts ahead of a week full of earnings reports and a Fed meeting Stocks are off to a promising start.
Solid earnings reports last week helped the S&P 500 rally to its first winning week in four.
The stock market will need such strength to steady it following a shaky April.
In markets abroad, Japan’s stock market was closed for a holiday.
According to AP, NEW YORK — U. s. Monday saw a slight increase in stocks to start a week full of reports that could move the market.
After having its best week since November, the SandP 500 increased 16 point21 points, or 0 point3 percent, to 5,116 point17. Adding 146 points, or 0.4 percent, to its 38,386 point value, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 55 points, or 0.3 percent, to its 15,983 point value on the Nasdaq composite.
Approximately one-third of the S&P 500 companies will release their first-quarter profit figures this coming week. This encompasses major players like Apple and Amazon. Reports have so far mostly exceeded expectations; last week, Alphabet, Microsoft, and other companies highlighted that about half of the S&P 500’s reports had been received.
Domino’s Pizza joined the fray on Monday, revealing better-than-anticipated earnings fueled by a second consecutive quarter of rising carryout and delivery orders. Its stock increased by 5 points and 6 percent.
AP Audio: A week filled with Fed meetings and earnings reports has Wall Street lurching forward in the stock market today.
The start of the stock market is bright. Seth Sutel of the AP reports.
Another significant player driving up the market was Tesla, which increased by 15.3%. In an attempt to boost sales in the biggest auto market in the world, Elon Musk, the company’s CEO, met with a senior Chinese official.
SoFi Technologies was the loser, with a 10 percent decline. The financial services company missed analysts’ expectations for net income in the current quarter, but it posted stronger results for the most recent quarter.
Last week, the S&P 500 saw its first winning week in four thanks to strong earnings reports. According to FactSet, the index companies appear to be on course to report a third consecutive quarter of growth in earnings per share.
Such strength will be necessary to stabilize the stock market after a rocky April. During the month, the S&P 500 experienced a 5 percent decline as traders reduced their expectations regarding the Federal Reserve’s ability to ease interest rates due to indications of persistently high inflation.
According to data from CME Group, traders are now hedging many bets on just one rate cut in 2024, whereas they started the year predicting six or more.
No one anticipates that the Federal Reserve, which is currently maintaining its highest interest rate since 2001, will alter its stance when it releases its most recent policy decision on Wednesday. Rather, it is hoped that the central bank will provide some indication as to when the first rate cut may occur.
Officials from the Federal Reserve will not be releasing their projections for interest rates in the coming years at this week’s meeting. In the most recent set of projections, which was made public in March, the average Federal Reserve official at the time was projecting three rate cuts for 2024.
In his press conference after the central bank’s decision, Fed Chair Jerome Powell could, however, provide additional details. Earlier this month, he made the suggestion that rates might remain high for a longer period of time because the Fed is awaiting additional proof that inflation is gradually declining toward its target of 2 percent.
Policymakers’ perspective may be further altered by a report that was released on Wall Street on Friday. The jobs report on Friday is anticipated by economists to reveal that hiring by U. S. In April, employers cooled off and wage growth for workers remained mostly stable.
On Wall Street, expectations are that the labor market will hold up well enough to prevent a recession without pushing inflation higher.
BNP Paribas economists recently revised out when they predicted the Fed would cut interest rates for the first time due to higher-than-expected inflation and the economy’s extraordinary resilience.
The move in July was what they had anticipated, but they warned that a punt to September might prove to be uncomfortable near the U.S. s. November brings a presidential election. Their current demand is that the Fed announce its first cut in December.
According to Andy Schneider’s team at BNP Paribas, skipping September would not only help the Fed avoid appearing as though it is trying to influence the election’s outcome, but it would also give the Fed the opportunity to see if the election results in significant policy changes that affect the direction of the economy and inflation.
They said, “We think these risks likely outweigh whatever marginal economic benefits might come from” cutting right before the election, “even if the economy evolves so as to justify a cut by September.”.
Japan’s stock market was closed for a holiday in international markets. However, the Japanese yen did not stop swinging sharply after regaining its position against the U.S. s. dollar at the end of 1990.
In other markets, European stock indexes remained mixed while rising throughout most of Asia.
In the bond market, late Friday saw a slight decrease in the yield on the 10-year Treasury from 4.67 to 4.61.
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