Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S. April 4, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
- Twitter soars after Elon Musk announces 9.2% stake
- US-listed Chinese companies are rising
- Utilities and real estate lagged among S&P 500 sectors
- Indices up: Dow 0.07%, S&P 0.55%, Nasdaq 1.59%
April 4 – Wall Street’s main indices rose on Monday, boosted by megacap tech and growth stocks and a surge in Twitter after Elon Musk announced a stake in the company, despite warning signs in the bond market and the Speech of further sanctions against Russia over Ukraine.
Cyclical and defensive sectors such as Financials (.SPSY) and Utilities (.SPLRCU) were in negative territory.
Twitter’s shares surged 29% after Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) CEO Musk announced a 9.2% stake in the microblogging site, making him its largest shareholder. Shares of other social media companies also rose. Continue reading
Tesla shares rose 5.7% after the company reported record first-quarter deliveries of electric vehicles on Saturday. Continue reading
“A lot of the news we’re seeing today is generally positive for technology,” said Mona Mahajan, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) was up 24.61 points, or 0.07%, to 34,842.88, the S&P 500 (.SPX) was up 25 points, or 0.55%, to 4,570.86 and the Nasdaq Composite ( .IXIC) rose 227.46 points to 1.59% at 14,488.96.
Along with Tesla, gains in Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) gave the S&P 500 major boost.
However, eight of the 11 S&P 500 sectors were weaker, with utilities down 1% and real estate down 0.6%.
The S&P 500 Growth Index (.IGX) rose 1.4%, while the S&P 500 Value Index (.IVX) fell 0.3%.
“Pressures on economic growth are mounting and that’s not necessarily good for some of the cyclical parts of the market. Maybe that’s why we’re seeing this value/growth rotation today,” Mahajan said.
In the bond market, the benchmark 10-year US Treasury yield rose on Monday and the 2-year/10-year yield curve remained inverted. The curve reversal is seen as a harbinger of a recession in the next two years.
Stocks rallied in recent weeks after a bumpy start to the year amid fears the US Federal Reserve will tighten monetary policy to fight inflation and the war in Ukraine. The S&P 500 is down about 4% so far in 2022 after losing as much as 12.5%.
Investors remained concerned about the Ukraine crisis, which has led to a spike in commodity prices that has worsened the prospects for already high inflation.
Global outrage erupted Monday over the killings of civilians in northern Ukraine, where a mass grave and bodies shot at point-blank range were found in a town retaken by Russian forces. The deaths are likely to prompt the United States and Europe to impose additional sanctions on Moscow. Continue reading
In corporate news, Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) fell 4.5% after former CEO Howard Schultz announced the suspension of the company’s stock buyback program. Continue reading
US-listed shares of Chinese companies like Alibaba rose after China proposed revising confidentiality rules for offshore listings. Continue reading
Declining issuance predominated on the NYSE at a 1.01 to 1 ratio; on the Nasdaq, a 1.65 to 1 ratio favored movers.
The S&P 500 posted 10 new 52-week highs and three new lows; the Nasdaq Composite posted 45 new highs and 53 new lows.
Reporting by Lewis Krauskopf in New York, Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru; Edited by Shounak Dasgupta and Richard Chang