S&P 500 and Nasdaq Advance On Merger Monday, Waste Management to Acquire Stericycle

Barry Adams
03 Jun, 2024
New York City

Stocks edged slightly higher in early trading on Monday as investors hoped that the recent market momentum would continue. 

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite have advanced in six of the last seven months, following better-than-expected earnings for the second quarter in a row and the continued surge in semiconductor stocks linked to artificial intelligence. 

The Nasdaq Composite halted its five consecutive weekly gains. 

This week, investors in the U.S. are looking forward to the release of two critical labor market updates: nonfarm payrolls and the job opening reports.

Nonfarm payrolls are expected to increase by 185,000 after expanding by 170,000 in April, according to a survey conducted by Ticker.com. 

The jobless rate is expected to remain steady at 3.9%, but wage gains are likely to increase at a faster pace of 0.3%.

The number of job openings in April, scheduled to be released on Tuesday, is expected to ease to 8.4 million, closer to the normal pattern of hiring. 

Private payrolls in May are likely to accelerate to 190,000, following the gains in April, according to the survey released by ADP. 

The ADP survey is generally unreliable, and monthly data show larger swings than the government's nonfarm payroll data. 

 

U.S. Indexes and Treasury Yields

The S&P 500 index increased 0.3% to 5,292.03, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.6% to 16,851.14. 

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes edged lower to 4.86%, 10-year Treasury notes decreased to 4.46%, and 30-year Treasury bonds edged higher to 4.61%.

Over the weekend, the oil-producing nations of OPEC+ announced their plans to keep production cuts until the end of the year in an effort to prevent the price of oil from sliding further. 

WTI crude oil increased $0.06 to $77.07 a barrel, and natural gas prices rose 9 cents to $2.67 a thermal unit.

Gold increased by $1.25 to $2,328.18 an ounce, and silver rose 5 cents to $30.35. 

The dollar index, which weighs the U.S. currency against a basket of foreign currencies, edged lower to 104.63.

 

U.S. Stock Movers

Stericylce soared 14.5% to $59.25 after the company agreed to be acquired by Waster Management for $7.2 billion. 

Waste management decreased 1.8% to $206.80. 

GameStop soared 74% to $40.35 on speculation that investor Keith Gill, who inspired a short squeeze in the stock in 2021, could have a large position in the stock. 

The social media accounts controlled by Keith Gill showed 5 million shares and 120,000 call options. 

MarineMax jumped 19.3% to $34.02, and the company is in talks to be acquired by OneWater Marine for $40 a share. 

The news was first reported by Bloomberg News and could not be independently verified. 

Spotify Technology jumped 4.9% to $311.12 after the music streaming service provider announced a price increase for its premium subscriptions in the U.S. starting in July. 

Paramount Global jumped 6.4% to $22.0 after the media company agreed on merger terms with Skydance. 

The companies are expected to announce the details of the deal terms as early as this week, according to reports by CNBC and The Wall Street Journal. 

Nvidia Corp. jumped 4.2% to $1,142.19 after the advanced chipmaker announced three new products.