Stock market today: S&P 500, Nasdaq notch longest win streaks of 2024 as August turnaround continues
08/20/2024 03:13
Investors are counting down to a speech by Jerome Powell at Jackson Hole that could reset rate-cut expectations.
US stocks closed at session highs on Monday after posting their best week in a year as the markets continued to rally in a sharp turnaround from their early August sell-off.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose nearly 1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) also gained 0.6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) increased roughly more than 1.4%.
Technology and Consumer Discretionary stocks led the gains, as the S&P 500 stretched its daily wins to eight, its longest streak since November of last year, according to Bespoke Investment data. The Nasdaq also logged its an eighth consecutive session win as shares of chip heavyweight Nvidia (NVDA) and Tesla (TSLA) rallied.
Stocks rose following last week's strong gains as a measure of calm returns to a market previously whipsawed by worries about a potential recession. Last week's rally recouped the losses stacked up in an early August sell-off as Wall Street fretted about cracks in the economy — concerns that have since been eased by encouraging inflation and consumer spending data.
Focus is already turning to Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the central bank's Jackson Hole symposium on Friday in a quiet week for economic data. As confidence in a "soft landing" for the economy grows — Goldman Sachs now sees a lower likelihood of recession — the question for investors isn't whether the Fed will lower interest rates in September but by how much.
As of Monday morning, traders were pricing in a 72% chance the Fed will reduce rates by 0.25% at that meeting and 28% odds for a 0.50% cut, according to the CME FedWatch tool. But the release on Wednesday of minutes from the Fed's July meeting could sway those bets.
Meanwhile, investors will also keep a watchful eye on the Democratic National Convention, which kicks off on Monday and could bring more insight into what to expect from presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
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Tech leads S&P 500, Nasdaq to 8th straight daily win as August turnaround continues
US stocks closed near session highs on Monday with the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) notching their 8th straight win.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose nearly 0.6% while the S&P 500 gained almost 1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 1.4% as technology and consumer discretionary stocks gained.
Nvidia (NVDA) rose more than 4%, extending gains to six consecutive sessions as analysts at Goldman Sachs reiterated their bullish view of the AI chip heavyweight.
Nvidia shares have been on a tear recently, rallying about 30% since closing below $100 each on August 7.
AMD (AMD) shares also rose more than 4% after the company announced plans to acquire hyperscale solutions provider ZT Systems in a deal valued at $4.9 billion.
On Tuesday investors will receive more data on the health of the consumer after Lowe's (LOW) reports its quarterly results.
Retailers Target (TGT), Macy’s (M), The TJX Companies (TJX), and BJ's (BJ) Wholesale Club will also post earnings this week.
Investors are also counting down to the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium where Fed Chair Jerome Powell will speak on Friday. The markets will look for signs from Fed officials to solidify a widely anticipated rate cut in September.
As Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor Brian Sozzi pointed out, Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius slashed his expectation for a US recession over the next 12 months to 20% from 25%.
Nvidia, Tesla lead market gains
Tech (XLK) and Consumer Discretionary (XLY) stocks led the market gains on Monday as the major averages were on track to close in green territory with about 15 minutes of trading left.
Chip maker Nvidia (NVDA) rose more than 3% while EV giant (TSLA) also gained roughly 3%. Shares of Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) also increased more than 1% to lead the averages higher.
Nvidia extends gains to 6th straight session as Goldman Sachs reiterates Buy call on AI chip giant
Nvidia (NVDA) stock rose more than 3% on Monday, extending gains to six consecutive sessions as analysts at Goldman Sachs reiterated their bullish view of the AI chip heavyweight.
Nvidia shares have been on a tear recently, rallying about 30% since closing below $100 each on August 7.
On Sunday night Goldman Sachs analysts reiterated their Buy rating on the stock, which also sits on the firm's 'Conviction List.'
The analysts wrote while a reported delay of the next generation Blackwell chip could lead to "some near term volatility" in fundamentals, "we expect management commentary coupled with supply-chain data points over the coming weeks to lead to higher conviction as it pertains to Nvidia's earnings power in CY2025."
"Importantly, we believe customer demand across the large Cloud Service Providers and enterprises is strong and Nvidia's robust competitive position in AI/accelerated computing remains intact," read the note.
The chip giant will report earnings on August 28 after the market close.
On Monday the stock was trading near $129, its highest level since mid-July.
Goldman Sachs is no longer worried about a recession. Their top economist reveals the reasons behind his new call
Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor Brian Sozzi writes:
And it's worth repeating: what recession?
On Monday, Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius slashed his expectation for a US recession over the next 12 months to 20% from 25%.
It was just 17 days ago when Hatzius lifted his recession probability to 25% from 15%, following a surprisingly weak July jobs report.
The move by Hatzius — and the unwinding of the Yen carry trade — sent shudders across markets worldwide.
Now Hatzius says things don't look as dreary for the US economy as once thought.
"The economy is still doing fine," Hatzius said on Yahoo Finance's Catalysts, pointing to improved economic data and healthy corporate earnings season.
"The lower recession risk has strengthened our forecasts that the Fed will cut by only 25 basis points at the September meeting. That's been our forecast for a long time, but I think with more worries about recession, there was a real possibility that it might be a 50 basis point cut."
Read more here:
Lowe's expected to post further sales decline, following Home Depot's disappointing results
Yahoo Finance's Brooke DiPalma reports:
Lowe's (LOW) is likely to follow in Home Depot's (HD) footsteps as shoppers hold off on home renovations amid a difficult macroeconomic environment.
On Tuesday, Lowe is expected to report its fiscal Q2 earnings report before market open. Based on Bloomberg consensus data, Wall Street expects revenue to decline roughly 4% year-over-year to $23.9 billion, adjusted earnings per share will drop 13% to $3.97.
Same-store sales are expected to fall 4.43%, driven by weaker foot traffic trends, down 0.74%, and smaller check size, down 3.6%. This would mark the seventh straight quarter of sales declines for the home improvement retailer.
Read more here.
Markets near session highs with S&P 500 on pace for longest winning streak of year
Stocks hovered near session highs on Monday afternoon as the S&P 500 (^GSPC) was on track to notch its longest winning streak of year.
All eleven sectors of the broader index were in green territory as investors await the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium where Fed Chair Jerome Powell is expected to speak on Friday.
The S&P 500 rose more than 0.5%, on track to extend its daily wins to eight, its longest winning streak since November of last year, according to data compiled by Bespoke Investment Group.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) also added more than 0.5%, on pace for its 8th consecutive session gain.
Meanwhile the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) rose more than 200 points.
Boeing's new CEO may need a decade to truly turn things around, says one veteran leader
Yahoo Finance's Grace Williams reports:
Boeing’s (BA) season of discontent may stretch into years before the newly appointed CEO Kelly Ortberg can right the ship, literally and metaphorically.
“[They] have to think differently because they’ve been on the wrong track for 20 years,” said leadership guru Bill George during a conversation with Yahoo Finance executive editor Brian Sozzi on his Opening Bid podcast (video above; listen in here).
The former Medtronic (MDT) CEO has also sat on the boards of Target (TGT), ExxonMobil (XOM), and Goldman Sach (GS). George says it could take Ortberg 10 years to put Boeing back on a flightpath toward success.
“You can get a lot done in five months or years, but you’ve got to change the culture back to aviation,” he added.
Read more here.
All S&P 500 sectors in green as stocks advance
All eleven S&P 500 (^GSPC) sectors were in green territory as the major averages advanced on Monday.
Energy stocks led the gains, with XLE (XLE) up 0.8% followed by Consumer Discretionary (XLY) and Real Estate (XLRE).
Technology (XLK) gained 0.2%, underperforming the S&P 500 index which rose 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) also rose roughly 0.4% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) added 0.3%.
S&P 500 Sectors on Monday around 12 p.m. ET Recession mentions are near a 3-year low for corporate America
While discussion around a slowing US economy has rippled through Wall Street this month, the amount of companies actually discussing recession with investors during conference calls is near its lowest level in three years.
From June 15 to Aug. 15, just 28 S&P 500 companies mentioned recession on their earnings calls, according to new data from FactSet. That's well below the five-year average of 83 companies and less than the 10-year average of 60 companies.
In the first quarter of this year, there were just 27 mentions of "recession." Before that, you'd have to go back to the fourth quarter of 2021 to find less talk about recession during earning calls.
Mentions have fallen significantly from levels in 2022, when one of the most widely anticipated recessions in history never came.
"The very low levels of 'recession' mentioned in the just-completed second quarter of 2024 is a sign of management confidence in current and near-future earnings power," DataTrek’s Nicholas Colas wrote in a note to clients on Monday morning. "If there were any need to excuse either earnings misses or reduced forward guidance, we would certainly be hearing more about recession looming somewhere just over the horizon."
AMD, Palantir, fuboTV: Top stocks making news today
Yahoo Finance's Alexandra Canal rounds up the biggest movers on Monday.
AMD (AMD): Shares of the chipmaker rose about 2% early Monday after the company announced plans to acquire hyperscale solutions provider ZT Systems in a deal valued at $4.9 billion.
The deal comes as AMD looks to broaden its AI infrastructure in order to compete with market leader Nvidia (NVDA). Shares of AMD are up just over 2% since the start of the year while Nvidia shares have soared about 150%. Nvidia will report second quarter earnings next week.
Palantir (PLTR): Data analytics company Palantir was in the spotlight on Monday after co-founder and CEO Alex Karp participated in an in-depth New York Times profile. In the interview, Karp, who largely stays out of the spotlight, defended his military partnerships, discussed his political views, and laid out the origin story of Palantir, along with his relationship with co-founder Peter Thiel.
Palantir has faced recent criticism over its work with the military and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Notably, the company does not do business with China, Russia, or other countries that are outwardly against Western ideologies.
fuboTV (FUBO): Shares of sports streamer fuboTV rallied another 30% on Monday following a Friday ruling that temporarily blocked the launch of Venu Sports, the upcoming sports streaming service from Disney's ESPN (DIS), Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), and Fox (FOXA).
US District Judge Margaret Garnett determined in her ruling that the launch of the joint venture would "substantially lessen competition and restrain trade." Furthermore, it would also ensure "a swift exodus of large numbers of Fubo’s subscribers" and that "Fubo’s bankruptcy and delisting of the company’s stock will likely soon follow. These are quintessential harms that money cannot adequately repair."
Read more here.
Gold pauses after touching all-time highs
Gold took a breather on Monday after touching record highs last week on the expectation of a Fed rate cut this year.
Spot gold retreated slightly after surpassing the $2,500 level for the first time last Friday. Meanwhile, gold futures (GC=F) fell 0.2% on Monday to hover near $2,530 per ounce.
The precious metal has rallied this year amid ongoing geopolitical tensions and expectations that the Federal Reserve will start its rate cut cycle soon.
Prices have also risen as central banks have continued to add to their gold reserves.
Stocks hold steady as countdown to Jackson Hole begins, more earnings from retailers on deck
US stocks gained slightly on Monday after posting their best week in a year as investors awaited Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech on Friday at Jackson Hole, with Wall Street set to receive further glimpses of the state of the consumer amid a slew of retail earnings.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) opened flat but held near record highs while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) also rose above the flat line. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) added 0.1%.
Investors will pay close attention to any signals as to rate cut expectations when Powell speaks at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium on Friday.
Wall Street will get further insights on the health of the consumer this week as Lowe's (LOW), Target (TGT), Macy’s (M), The TJX Companies (TJX), and BJ's (BJ) Wholesale Club post quarterly results. The reports follow encouraging inflation and consumer spending data.
Meanwhile, the Democratic National Convention kicks off on Monday, which could give investors more insight into what to expect from presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
