U.S. Major Averages Inch Further In Record Territory Ahead of Fed Chair Powell Comments

Barry Adams
09 Jul, 2024
New York City

Stock market indexes continued to advance higher for the sixth week in a row ahead of earnings season and optimism about artificial intelligence applications-linked spending. 

The S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite advanced more than 0.3% and traded at new record highs after mega-cap stocks inched higher. 

Nvidia advanced 4%, Apple gained 0.6%, Meta gained 0.9%, and Amazon added 0.3%, but Microsoft decreased 0.3%. 

Fed Chair Powell is scheduled to deliver his semiannual testimony on monetary policy before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, followed by a presentation on Wednesday to the U.S. House Financial Services Committee. 

Powell's remarks come before the release of consumer price inflation data on Thursday and producer price inflation on Friday. 

Earnings season kicks off this week with earnings from PepsiCo, and leading banks including JP Morgan, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Bank of New York Mellon are set to report.

 

U.S. Indexes and Treasury Yields

The S&P 500 index increased 0.2% to 5,584.31, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4% to 18,466.78.

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes edged higher to 4.65%, 10-year Treasury notes increased to 4.29%, and 30-year Treasury bonds edged lower to 4.48%.

WTI crude oil decreased $0.38 to $81.83 a barrel, and natural gas prices edged up 3 cents to $2.40 a thermal unit.

Gold decreased by $2.47 to $2,364.57 an ounce, and silver rose 17 cents to $31.02. 

The dollar index, which weighs the U.S. currency against a basket of foreign currencies, edged lower to 105.04.

 

U.S. Stock Movers 

BP plc declined 4% to $35.01 after the British oil company announced an impairment charge of up to $2 billion and weaker refining margin in the second quarter. 

The oil explorer and refiner said the after-tax impact of the charge could be between $1 billion and $2 billion, primarily linked to a review of a refinery in Germany and other worldwide assets. 

The company added weaker refining margins are likely to negatively impact earnings between $500 million and $700 million, primarily because of the narrower margin differential in the U.S. refining. 

Refining margins are likely to be adversely impacted "mainly relating to weaker middle distillate margins and narrower North American heavy crude oil differentials, and a higher level of turnaround activity, partially offset by the absence of the first quarter Whiting refinery outage of around $0.5 billion. 

The oil trading result is expected to be weak following a strong result in the first quarter," the company said in a regulatory filing in the U.K. 

The company said its capital expenditure plans of $16 billion are likely to be evenly split between the first and second half, and it estimated $1.2 billion of payment in 2024 related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. 

Nvidia Corp. soared 3.9% to $132.88 after KeyBanc increased its target price for the stock to $180.