S&P 500 and Nasdaq Hover Near Recent Highs After a Week of Listless Trading

Barry Adams
21 Feb, 2025
New York City

Benchmark indexes on Wall Street headed slightly lower in early trading as investors reviewed a fresh batch of earnings and debated future rate paths. 

The S&P 500 index decreased 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.1%, and they are on track to register small losses after a week of trading. 

Investors have retained a positive outlook because corporate earnings have so far met expectations, the macroeconomic backdrop has been stable, and labor market conditions have remained strong. 

In addition, despite the recent rebound in inflation, investors continue to believe that inflation is likely to slow down in the months ahead amid weakening crude oil prices. 

However, investors are beginning to lower expectations of additional rate cuts in 2025, amid worries of resurgent inflation due to a sharp rise in tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. 

The Federal Reserve has paused its rate-cutting campaign since January, after lowering rates three times since September, as policymakers await evidence of further slowdown in inflation. 

 

U.S. Commodities, Currencies, Indexes, Yields

The S&P 500 index decreased 0.3% to 6,099.36, the Nasdaq Composite edged down 0.1% to 19,935.40, and the Russell 2000 index was up 0.2% to 2,266.83.

The yield on 2-year Treasury notes edged lower to 4.27%, 10-year Treasury notes decreased to 4.50%, and 30-year Treasury bonds declined to 4.73%.

WTI crude oil decreased $1.09 to $71.38 a barrel, and natural gas prices edged higher by $0.18 to $4.34 a thermal unit.

Gold decreased by $8.15 to 2,933.54 an ounce, and silver edged down by $0.15 to $32.78.

The dollar index, which weighs the US currency against a basket of foreign currencies, increased 0.10 to 106.47 and traded at a two-year high.

 

U.S. Movers 

Dropbox decreased 6.7% to $29.75 after the cloud software company reported better-than-expected sales and earnings in the latest quarter, but the paying customers declined. 

Block Inc. declined 7.5% to $74.39 after the fintech company reported lower-than-expected revenue and earnings in the latest quarter.

The payment processing company posted adjusted earnings per share of 71 cents on revenue of $6.03 billion. 

Celsius Holdings increased 35% to $34.50 after the energy beverage company reported sharply higher revenue and earnings in the latest quarter.

In addition, the company signed an agreement to acquire Alani Nutrition for $1.8 billion, and the purchase price includes a tax asset of $150 million.

UnitedHealth Group dropped 11.4% to $445.11 after The Wall Street Journal reported that the insurance company is under investigation by the Department of Justice, focusing on its Medicare billing practices.