The stock market closed higher Monday, led by the Dow Jones industrials, a day before midterm elections. Facebook parent Meta Platforms led tech stocks higher after news that it plans to lay off thousands of workers. Even Apple closed up 0.4% in spite of an announcement over the weekend that it will cut back shipments of its iPhone 14.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.3% higher and the S&P 500 rose 1%. The Nasdaq composite closed up 0.9%. The small-cap Russell 2000 index rose 0.6%.
Volume fell on both the NYSE and the Nasdaq vs. the same time on Friday, according to early data.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose 5 basis points to 4.21%.
Crude oil prices fell 0.8% to $91.90 per barrel.
Technology and energy stocks gained the most. The S&P Technology Select Sector ETF gained 1.8% while the S&P Energy Select Sector ETF closed up 1.7%. The S&P Utilities Sector ETF was the worst-performing of the 11 S&P sectors, down 1.9%. Utility NextEra Energy closed 1.9% lower and Southern closed down 2.4%.
Midterm Elections Could See A Shift In Control
Tuesday's midterm elections could see a shift to Republican control of one or both chambers of Congress.
"Republicans are strongly favored to win the House, and the Senate is roughly a tossup," wrote LPL Financial's Asset Allocation Strategist Barry Gilbert and Chief Equity Strategist Jeffrey Buchbinder in a memo to investors. "We believe either outcome would be market-friendly."
A change to either scenario would be the Democrats gaining outright control of both houses.
President Joe Biden's approval rating remains deep underwater, the November IBD/TIPP Poll finds. Biden's job approval rating ticked up two-tenths of a point to 45.5 in the new IBD/TIPP Poll. The presidential job approval figure indicates that 45.5% of adults who stated an opinion approve of Biden's job performance and 54.5% disapprove.
Meanwhile, Digital World Acquisition stock shot up more than 66% Monday as the special purpose acquisition company — aiming to take former President Donald Trump's tech and social-media platform public — seems to be getting a boost from news Trump will announce another run for the White House this month.
In economic news, the October consumer price index is set for release Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET. The most-closely tracked inflation number is forecast to rise 0.7%, higher than September's 0.4%, for an annualized rate of 8%. Core CPI, excluding food and energy, is expected to rise 0.5%, slightly less than September's 0.6%. This would yield an annualized rate of 6.6%.
Stock Market Movers: Facebook, Tesla, Oil Stocks
Facebook parent Meta Platforms closed up 6.5% on plans to lay off thousands of workers in an attempt to cut costs. This would be the first staff reduction in the company's history. The stock is down over 70% so far this year.
Among Dow Jones stocks, Microsoft rose 2.9%. Apple shares fell 0.9% after the tech firm said Sunday that "We now expect lower iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max shipments than we previously anticipated."
Shares of Tesla tumbled 5% to below the 200 level, a new 52-week low. Investors appear concerned that CEO Elon Musk will be distracted by his recent acquisition of Twitter, and the negative public relations he is getting from his recent battles with high-profile users.
Shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance jumped 4.1% after a unit of Walgreens reportedly neared a deal to combine with Summit Health, the parent company of CityMD urgent-care centers, in an agreement that could be reached as early as Monday, according to The Wall Street Journal. The transaction would be worth roughly $9 billion including debt, according to people familiar with the matter. Health insurer Cigna is expected to invest in the combined company.
Vaccine maker BioNTech doubled Wall Street's third-quarter profit expectations Monday and raised its full-year outlook for Covid vaccine sales. BNTX stock rose 4.2%.
The Germany-based company reported earnings of 6.98 euros per share on 3.46 billion euros in sales. Based on today's exchange rates, earnings were about $6.98 per share and sales came out to $3.46 billion. Both metrics handily beat expectations, according to FactSet.
Earnings Movers: Shift4, Ritchie, Palantir
Oil stocks gained after the U.S. and its allies agreed last week on which sales of Russian oil will be subject to a price cap. Details of the price caps still need to be worked out before sanctions begin on Dec. 5.
Several oil companies are also scheduled to report earnings this week including Occidental Petroleum and Diamondback Energy. Diamondback shares gained 1.3% Monday and are climbing the right-side of a cup base and approaching their buy point of 162.34. Analysts are looking for a profit of $6.36 per share. Diamondback shares are gaining as more shale oil companies are reinvesting their profits in the Permian Basin.
Shale oil company Comstock Resources soared more than 10% Monday. The stock is approaching a buy point of 21.95 off a consolidation base.
Coal miner Peabody Energy jumped more than 11% after announcing it's no longer in talks to acquire Australian miner Coronado Global Resources.
Shift4 Payments met earnings views and beat revenue estimates for its third quarter, and raised one metric in its full-year outlook. But Shift4 stock fell more than 7% Monday as it prepared to host an investor day. For the quarter ending Sept. 30, Shift4 earnings rose 65% on an adjusted basis from a year earlier to 43 cents. Net revenue climbed 33% to $196.7 million.
Upcoming Earnings This Week
Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers plunged 17.6% after reporting better-than expected Q3 EPS but missing on revenue. The company also said it agreed to acquire digital vehicle marketplace IAA in a stock and cash transaction valued at approximately $7.3 billion. IAA stock fell as well, down more than 1.2% on the news.
Medical products provider Haemonetics gapped up 3.5% after beating fiscal Q2 top- and bottom-line estimates.
Palantir shed 11.5% in heavy volume after beating Q3 sales estimates and missing on earnings. The stock is trading near all-time lows.
The Innovator IBD 50 ETF rose 1.1%, led by oil stocks and medical staffing firm AMN Healthcare, which jumped more than 6%.
Corporate earnings are also due this week from Lyft, Walt Disney and casino operator Wynn Resorts.
Follow Michael Molinski on Twitter @IMmolinski
