Day: August 12, 2024

Stocks are likely to move to the upside in early trading on Monday, extending the rebound seen over the past several sessions. The major index futures are currently pointing to a higher open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by 0.3 percent.

Easing concerns about the outlook for economy may lead to continued buying on Wall Street following the steep drop seen earlier this month.

Overall trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the release of several key economic reports later this week.

The Labor Department is scheduled to release reports on producer and consumer price inflation on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, with the data likely to impact the outlook for interest rates.

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut interest rates next month, with CME Group’s FedWatch Tool currently indicating a split regarding the probability of a quarter or half point rate cut.

In light of recent concerns about the outlook for the economy, traders are also likely to keep a close eye on reports on retail sales and industrial production.

Following the rally seen during Thursday’s session, stocks turned in a relatively lackluster performance during trading on Friday but managed to end the day mostly higher.

The major averages finished the session off their highs of the day but still in positive territory. The Dow edged up 51.05 points or 0.1 percent to 39,497.54, the Nasdaq climbed 85.28 points or 0.5 percent to 16,745.30 and the S&P 500 rose 24.85 points or 0.5 percent to 5,344.16.

With the upward move seen over the course of the session, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 largely offset the steep losses posted on Monday, closing only slightly lower for the week.

For the week, the S&P 500 edged down by less than a tenth of a percent and the Nasdaq dipped by 0.2 percent, while narrower Dow slid by 0.6 percent.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Monday, with the Japanese markets closed for a holiday. South Korea’s Kospi jumped by 1.2 percent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed by 0.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.2 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.4 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are jumping $0.86 to $77.70 a barrel after climbing $0.65 to $76.84 a barrel last Friday. Meanwhile, after rising $10.10 to $2,473.40 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are increasing $10.30 to $2,483.70 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 147.60 yen versus the 146.61 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Friday. Against the euro, the dollar is trading at $1.0922 compared to last Friday’s $1.0917.

After seeing considerable volatility early in the session, stocks have moved mostly higher over the course of the trading day on Monday. With the advance, the major averages are extending the rebound seen in recent sessions.

Currently, the Nasdaq is up 145.87 points or 0.9 percent at 16,891.17, the S&P 500 is up 26.61 points or 0.5 percent at 5,370.77 and the Dow is up 9.07 points or less than a tenth of a percent at 39,506.61.

Easing concerns about the outlook for economy have contributed to continued buying on Wall Street following the steep drop seen earlier this month.

Overall trading activity remains somewhat subdued, however, as traders look ahead to the release of several key economic reports later this week.

The Labor Department is scheduled to release reports on producer and consumer price inflation on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, with the data likely to impact the outlook for interest rates.

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut interest rates next month, with CME Group’s FedWatch Tool currently indicating a split regarding the probability of a quarter or half point rate cut.

In light of recent concerns about the outlook for the economy, traders are also likely to keep a close eye on reports on retail sales and industrial production.

Gold stocks are turning in some of the market’s best performances on the day, resulting in a 2.5 percent surge by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index.

The rally by gold stocks comes amid an increase by the price of the precious metal, with gold for December delivery climbing $19.40 to $2,492.80 an ounce.

Considerable strength is also visible among computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 1.6 percent gain being posted by the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index.

Semiconductor and oil services have also moved notably higher on the day, while telecom and airline stocks are seeing significant weakness.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Monday, with the Japanese markets closed for a holiday. South Korea’s Kospi jumped by 1.2 percent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed by 0.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets are turning in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index is down by 0.1 percent, the German DAX Index is up by 0.1 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index is up by 0.5 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries have shown a lack of direction ahead of key economic data later this week. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, is up by less than a basis point at 3.947 percent.

Stocks fluctuated over the course of the trading session on Monday before eventually ending the day little changed. The major averages bounced back and forth across the unchanged line and finished the session narrowly mixed.

While the Dow dipped 140.53 points or 0.4 percent to 39,357.01, the S&P 500 inched up 0.23 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 5,344.39 and the Nasdaq rose 35.31 points or 0.2 percent to 16,780.61.

The choppy trading on Wall Street came as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of several key U.S. economic reports later this week.

The Labor Department is scheduled to release reports on producer and consumer price inflation on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, with the data likely to impact the outlook for interest rates.

The reports are expected to show a slowdown in the annual rate of price growth, which could provide further impetus for the Federal Reserve to lower rates.

The Fed is widely expected to cut interest rates next month, with CME Group’s FedWatch Tool currently indicating a split regarding the probability of a quarter or half point rate cut.

In light of recent concerns about the outlook for the economy, traders are also likely to keep a close eye on reports on retail sales and industrial production.

While most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest moves, airline stocks saw substantial weakness, resulting in a 4.1 percent nosedive by the NYSE Arca Airline Index.

JetBlue (JBLU) led the sector lower, with the airline plummeting by 20.7 percent after announcing it intends to offer $400 million worth of convertible senior notes due 2029.

Significant weakness was also visible among telecom stocks, as reflected by the 3.5 percent plunge by the NYSE Arca North American Telecom Index.

On the other hand, gold stocks moved sharply higher amid an increase by the price of the precious metal, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index up by 3.7 percent.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region moved mostly higher during trading on Monday, with the Japanese markets closed for a holiday. South Korea’s Kospi jumped by 1.2 percent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed by 0.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the French CAC 40 Index fell by 0.3 percent, the German DAX Index closed just above the unchanged line and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.5 percent.

In the bond market, treasuries moved higher over the course of the trading session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, fell by 3.3 basis points to 3.909 percent.

Looking Ahead

Trading on Tuesday may be impacted by reaction to the Labor Department’s report on producer price inflation in the month of July.