Stocks finish mixed on Monday, as investors looked for first reactions to last week's inflation data and braced for a series of labor-market releases over the coming days.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 240 points, or 0.60%, to 39,566.85, while the S&P 500 slipped 0.20% to 5,243.77 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.11% to 16,396.83.
The ISM Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 50.3 in March from 47.8 in February and was the strongest since September 2022.
Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank said that manufacturing activity “is gaining traction in the spring as businesses ran down inventories less than in 2023.”
"The economy is growing solidly this spring," he said. "Consumer spending growth has been more modest since the turn of the year, partially because Americans are facing higher tax bills this season after the S&P 500 Index rose more than 20% in 2023."
"But manufacturing activity is picking up, a partially-offsetting tailwind," Adams said.
Updated at 12:37 PM EDT
Trump slump
Trump Media & Technology Corp. shares, trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol DJT, were last marked 22% lower at $48.26 each following a 'going concern' warning in the the group's latest SEC filings and detailed losses for its main Trump Social asset.
Trump Media, which owns the Truth Social social-media network founded by former President Donald Trump, made an updated filing with the SEC late last week showing a 2023 loss of around $58 million.
$DJT is a stock that lost $58M in 2023 and only took in a few million dollars in revenue.
— towns 🌶️ (@towns) April 1, 2024
The fact that this went public at $77 and is worth $5.45B is insane. This stock should go to zero.
After that, the @GOP will call for investigations into the stock market lol https://t.co/byrfaB2ZjF
Updated at 12:10 PM EDT
Rocky Mountain highs
Micron Technology (MU) , the chipmaker based in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Boise, Idaho, hit a fresh record high Monday following a price target upgrade from Bank of America.
Shares in the group were last marked 6.9% higher at $126.01 each, a move that extends their year-to-date gain to around 53%.
Related: Analyst revamps Micron price target on memory chip demand outlook
Updated at 11:33 AM EDT
Red Monday
Stocks are moving into the red in late morning trading, held down by a jump in Treasury bond yields and some 'first-day-of-the-quarter' action on profit taking.
The S&P 500 was last marked 16 points, or 0.3% lower on the session while the Dow was down 247 points. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, fell 17 points, or 0.1%.
Mega-cap stocks (orange) in the S&P 500 have dominated the "other 490" (white) since the start of 2023, but going back to 2000, it's the other 490 that have dominated with a gain of 890% (vs. 368% for the top 10) @business
— Kevin Gordon (@KevRGordon) April 1, 2024
[Past performance is no guarantee of future results] pic.twitter.com/4ZmXpyajTD
Updated at 10:05 AM EDT
Factory Action
The Institute of Supply Management's benchmark survey of manufacturing activity showed the first expansive reading in sixteen months, coming in at 50.8, with a subindex of prices paid jumping to multi-year highs.
New orders and employment were also higher, the survey indicated, adding more upward pressure to Treasury yields, with 10 year notes now 10 basis points higher at 4.305% while 2-year notes rose 5 basis points to 4.681%.
* highest #ISM manuf since Sept 2022
— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla) April 1, 2024
* highest prices paid since July 2022
* weakest employment index since December@CNBC https://t.co/SOEB3mNYY0
Updated at 9:42 AM EDT
Alpha Alphabet
Google parent Alphabet (GOOG) shares hit a fresh all-time high of $155.69 each in early trading after Bank of America added the group to its 'Top Ideas' list for the second quarter.
More broadly, the tech-focused Nasdaq added 106 points, or 0.65%, while the S&P 500 was marked 8 points higher, or 0.14%. The Dow slipped 70 points.
S&P 500 Opening Bell Heatmap (April 01, 2024)$SPY +0.19% 🟩$QQQ +0.62% 🟩$DJI -0.21% 🟥$IWM -0.55% 🟥
— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) April 1, 2024
Stocks on move: $MU +3.4%, $LI +3.73%, $NIO +3.11%, $MRVL +3.3%, $FXI +1.79% (🟢) || $T -2%, $CLSK -8.8%, $UPS -0.52%, $MSTR -5.3%, $LLY -0.81%, $FDX -1.49%, $AAPL -0.37%… pic.twitter.com/XrF9V2WcSA
Updated at 9:00 AM EDT
Fading gains
A curious move higher in Treasury yields, which has lifted benchmark 10-year notes by 5 basis points, to 4.251%, is taking some of the steam out of equity futures in early trading, while a sharp move lower for 3M has the Dow slipping into negative territory.
The S&P 500 is called 3 points higher, with the Nasdaq looking at a 32 point gain.
Can $SPX continue higher if Fed DOESNT cut rates?
— Seth Golden (@SethCL) April 1, 2024
Oct. 1986-1989, Fed Fund Rate went from 5.85% - 9.85% otherwise known as "Higher For Longer"
SPX went from 243-36 = +50% in ~3yrs
Avg #CPI 1980s = 5.1%
Only other higher for longer period '94-'99, ummmm $SPY $QQQ $DIA $IWM pic.twitter.com/pFqTve9IQT
Updated at 8:49 AM EDT
Dark arts
AT&T (T) shares slumped after the telecoms giant unveiled an internal probe into a massive data leak that may have exposed the details of 73 million customers to the 'dark web'.
AT&T said the data was from a specific batch crated in 2019, or possibly earlier, but couldn't confirm whether the breach came from within or through one of its vendors.
AT&T shares were marked 2.16% lower in pre-market trading to indicate an opening bell price of $17.22 each.
$T (-2.3% pre) AT&T data breach exposes 73 million current, former accounts on dark web, company sayshttps://t.co/G69HSqJvSx
— Open Outcrier (@OpenOutcrier) April 1, 2024
Updated at 7:47 AM EDT
Going Postal
United Parcel Service (UPS) shares jumped higher in early trading after the package delivery group wrested control of a key a air cargo account with the United States Postal Service from rival FedEx (FDX) .
The contract, which has been with FedEx for the past 22 years, is set to change hands later this year following months of contentious negotiations over costs and performance.
UPS shares were last marked 2.05% higher at $151.68 each while FedEx slumped 2.33% to $283.00 each.
Stock Market Today
Stocks ended on a high note last week, heading into the Good Friday closure, with the S&P 500 booking its second consecutive quarterly gain of more than 10% for the first time since 2011 while adding to its five-month winning streak.
Friday's inflation data, which showed a modest easing in monthly readings for both the headline and core PCE Price Index, the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge, looks set to add more fuel to the market's record run.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, in fact, told an event in San Francisco Friday that while the numbers were "not as low as most of the good readings we got in the second half of last year," the broader inflation track is "definitely more along the lines of what we want to see."
His comments boosted bets that the Fed would put in place the first of its three forecast rate cuts in June, with the CME Group's FedWatch pegging the odds at around 66%.
Related: The Fed's stock market influence, like inflation pressure, continues to fade
Benchmark 2-year Treasury note yields, the most sensitive to interest-rate changes, were marked 2 basis points lower at 4.599% heading into the New York trading session, while 10-year notes held steady at 4.211%.
The U.S. dollar index was marked 0.03% higher against a basket of its global peers at 104.576 while gold prices printed a fresh all-time high of $2,262.19 in overnight dealing
The market's renewed dovishness, however, is likely to be tested by a series of labor-market-data releases, including job openings for the month of February and the March nonfarm payrolls report, over the coming week.
A light calendar of earnings releases is also on tap, with JPMorgan (JPM) set to kick off the first-quarter reporting season on April 12.
On Wall Street, futures tied to the S&P 500, which ended the first quarter with a 10.16% gain, are priced for a 17-point opening bell gain while those linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average are priced for a 120-point advance.
Dow component 3M (MMM) slumped 14.7% in early trading after the industrial and technology group's $10.3 billion settlement with public water suppliers to pay for the damage caused by so-called forever chemicals received final approval from a U.S. District Court in South Carolina.
The tech-focused Nasdaq, which booked a first-quarter gain of 9.11%, is looking at a 97-point advance to start the trading week.
In Europe, the bulk of major markets remained closed for the Easter Monday holiday after the regionwide Stoxx 600 ended the quarter with a 7% gain and a five-month winning streak.
Overnight in Asia, stronger-than-expected economic activity data from China, including both private sector and official readings, helped domestic stocks start the week with solid gains. Holiday-thinned trading in other markets held the regionwide MSCI ex-Japan index to a 0.02% advance.
In Japan, the renewed threat of intervention in the yen, which remains within touching distance of a 34-year low against the U.S. dollar, kept stocks on the back foot on the first day of trading in the new fiscal year. The Nikkei 225 fell 1.4% in Tokyo.
Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024
