Wall Street Starts New Week with New High In S&P 500 Index

Barry Adams
14 Oct, 2024
New York City

Stock market indexes were little changed in early trading on Monday as investors remained firmly focused on earnings. 

About 120 companies are set to release their quarterly results this week, including Blackstone, Charles Schwab, American Express, Netflix, P&G, and Abbott. 

On the earnings front, Johnson & Johnson, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America report their quarterly results on Tuesday, and Morgan Stanley, CSX, Las Vegas Sands, and United Airlines report Wednesday. 

The S&P 500 index traded at a new high last week, and the index and the Nasdaq Composite advanced for the fifth week in a row amid rising expectations that the Federal Reserve could engineer a soft landing. 

Despite record highs, investors are on edge because of the recent jump in crude oil prices, rate path uncertainty, and escalating geopolitical risk in the Middle East. 

As of Friday's close, the S&P 500 index has advanced 22.6% and the Nasdaq Composite has jumped 24.2%, excluding dividend reinvestments. 

In the week ahead, investors are looking forward to the release of September retail sales and September industrial output on Thursday, followed by September housing starts and building permits Friday. 

 

U.S. Indexes and Treasury Yields

The S&P 500 index increased 0.2% to 5,789.69, the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.2% to 18,246.11, and the Russell 2000 index declined 0.5% to 2,189.52.

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes edged lower to 3.97%, 10-year Treasury notes inched up to 4.11%, and 30-year Treasury bonds inched higher to 4.41%.

WTI crude oil decreased $1.73 to $73.83 a barrel, and natural gas prices edged down 6 cents to $2.56 a thermal unit.

Gold fell by $4.20 to $2,656.80 an ounce, and silver decreased by $0.32 to $31.20.

The dollar index, which weighs the US currency against a basket of foreign currencies, edged higher to 103.19.

 

U.S. Stock Movers

Boeing declined 1.5% to $148.50 after the aviation company said it plans to cut about 10% of its staff, or about 17,000 jobs. 

The company also estimated third quarter revenue of $17.8 billion, GAAP loss per share of $9.97, and operating cash outflow of $1.3 billion. 

The company also announced a $3 billion charge related to its 777x and 767 programs in its commercial plane division and delayed its first delivery of 777-9 to 2026 and 777-8 freighter in 2028. 

Flutter Entertainment jumped 4.1% to $227.90 after Wells Fargo recommended the stock, urging investors to take advantage of the recent price decline. 

In London, UK trading, Flutter Entertainment and Entain PLC declined as much as 7% after a report suggested that the recently appointed U.K. government is looking to increase taxes on the gambling industry to raise as much as £3 billion. 

Cryptocurrency-related stocks advanced after Bitcoin rose to $64,000. 

MicroStrategy increased 5.8% to $225.12, MARA Holding jumped 6% to $17.08, and Coinbase Global rose 3% to $181.54.