Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., October 20, 2023. Portal/Brendan McDermid/File Photo Acquire License Rights
- Chevron slips after $53 billion deal for Hess
- Salesforce down after brokerage downgrade
- Walgreens rises after JPM upgrade
- Indices rise: Dow 0.01%, S&P 0.29%, Nasdaq 0.53%
Oct 23 (Portal) – U.S. stocks reversed course and rose on Monday as bond yields fell after hitting the crucial 5% mark earlier in the session, as investors looked to gains from the world’s largest technology companies and important economic data was waiting.
The benchmark S&P 500 index (.SPX) rebounded above 4200, a key technical level, after falling nearly 1 percent during the open.
The yield on the 10-year note reached the July 2007 milestone it briefly attempted to surpass last week, but fell to 4.8629%, a decline of 6 basis points.
Bill Ackman’s hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management has covered its short position in bonds, like the billionaire on the messaging platform
The focus remains on the positive earnings season. Microsoft (MSFT.O), Alphabet (GOOGL.O), Amazon.com (AMZN.O) and Meta Platforms (META.O), which have helped drive the S&P 500 (.SPX) higher in 2023 , while the other indexes lagged, report later this week.
“No matter what results we see in big tech earnings this week, the results will not justify their outlandish valuations,” said David Bahnsen, chief investment officer at The Bahnsen Group.
“Even if the prices of major technology stocks have declined over the past three months, they are still too expensive.”
Chipmaker Intel (INTC.O), oil giant Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) and General Motors (GM.N) are other major companies due to report results this week.
Overall, third-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected to rise 1.2%, according to LSEG data.
Investors were also watching tensions in the Middle East after Israel bombed Gaza and also attacked southern Lebanon overnight, in signs the conflict was widening.
Thursday’s U.S. GDP number will be closely watched as the economy is expected to have grown at a robust 4.2% in the third quarter, which could justify tighter monetary policy.
Investors will also track the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index – the Fed’s preferred inflation indicator – for September later this week.
At 11:51 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) was up 4.10 points, or 0.01%, at 33,131.38, and the S&P 500 (.SPX) was up 12.43 points, or 0.29% 4,236.59 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) rose 69.09 points or 0.53% to 13,052.90.
Seven of the 11 major S&P 500 subsectors were in the green, with industrials (.SPLRCI) and communications services (.SPLRCL) posting the biggest gains.
Salesforce (CRM.N) fell 1.2% as Piper Sandler downgraded its rating to “Neutral” from Overweight, while pharmacy chain operator Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA.O) rose 4.9% after JP Morgan had upgraded its rating to Overweight.
Chevron (CVX.N) fell 2.6% after the energy giant said it would buy smaller rival Hess Corp (HES.N) in a $53 billion all-stock deal. Hess lost 0.4%.
FMC (FMC.N) fell 12.4% after the agricultural products supplier cut its third-quarter sales and profit outlook.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers, with a ratio of 1.06 to 1 on the NYSE and a ratio of 1.08 to 1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded no new 52-week highs and 51 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 10 new highs and 369 new lows.
Reporting by Shubham Batra and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Edited by Sriraj Kalluvila and Maju Samuel
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