Stocks finished higher Monday, with the S&P 500 posting another record close, as investors looked to a split week on Wall Street and improving market sentiment heading into the final stretch of the second quarter.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 188.94 points, to 0.49%, to finish at 38,778.10, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.77% to 5,473.23 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.95% to close at 17,857.02.
This was the S&P 500's 30th record close of the year.
In company news, Tesla shares ended higher, rising 5.3% to $187.44, following reports suggesting officials in Shanghai have given permission for the electric vehicle maker to test advanced driver-assistance software on some city streets.
Looking ahead, Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank, said retail sales likely rose moderately in May after no change in April.
Housing starts and building permits are also expected to be higher in May, Adams added, continuing their recovery after a big dip in the spring months.
"Initial jobless claims will get more attention than usual after last week's release jumped to the highest since August 2023," Adams said. "Comerica forecasts a pullback, but for the four-week average to continue to rise."
Updated at 12:55 PM EDT
Modest gains
Stocks are inching higher into the afternoon session amid a dearth of headline drivers and a muted level of broader market volatility to kick-off the holiday-shortened week.
The S&P 500 was last marked 30 points higher on the session, with the Nasdaq up 115 points and the Dow gaining 106 points.
The CBOE Group's key volatility gauge, the VIX index, was marked 0.32% higher at $12.70, a level that suggests traders are expecting daily swings of around 44 points, or 0.79%, for the S&P 500 over the next 30 days, around the lowest levels in six months.
17% of members in the Russell 3000 are at a new 3-month low ... most since April pic.twitter.com/cylRHSGbC5
— Kevin Gordon (@KevRGordon) June 17, 2024
Updated at 10:53 AM EDT
Tesla test
Tesla shares are powering higher again Monday, rising more than 4% in early trading, following reports that suggest officials in Shanghai have given permission for it to test advanced driver-assistance software on some city streets.
Tesla shares were last marked 4% higher in early trading and changing hands at $185.08 each, putting them in positive territory for the past month.
Related: Tesla shares soar as Elon Musk returns from China with FSD 'Game Changer'
Updated at 9:42 AM EDT
Soft Open
The S&P 500 was marked 6 points, or 0.1% lower in the opening minutes of trading, with the Nasdaq gaining 2 points and the Dow slipped 146 points.
Benchmark 10-year notes yields were up 6 basis points at 4.283% while 2-year notes were pegged at 4.746%.
The U.S. dollar index, meanwhile, was marked 0.01% lower against a basket of its global peers and trading at 105.540.
S&P 500 Opening Bell Heatmap (Jun. 17, 2024)$SPY -0.19%🟥$QQQ -0.03%🔳$DJI -0.30%🟥$IWM -0.41%🟥 pic.twitter.com/IsUpwnTFv0
— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) June 17, 2024
Updated at 9:06 AM EDT
Bulls in June
Evercore ISI analyst Julian Emanuel lifted his end-of-year price target for the S&P 500 to 6,000 points, the highest on Wall Street, citing a combination of Fed rate cuts, improving corporate profits and extended tech leadership as likely to drive second-half gains.
He also sees the benchmark potentially rising to as high as 7,000 points by the end of 2025.
Related: Analysts revisit S&P 500 price targets as tech powers record run
Check back for updates throughout the trading day
Stocks ended in similar mixed fashion on Friday as well, with modest declines for the S&P 500 and the Dow and another record close for the Nasdaq, powered in part by outsized gains for big tech names such as Nvidia (NVDA) and Apple (AAPL) as well as the biggest bond market rally of the year.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury note yields briefly slipped below 4.2% Friday, the lowest since late March, and have been pushed sharply lower by a combination of muted inflation readings and solid demand in last week's auction cycle.
Bets on a September Federal Reserve interest-rate cut are starting to revive as well, with the CME Group's FedWatch placing the odds at 66.7%.
Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari in fact told CBS's "Face The Nation" that while he would like to see more evidence that inflation is returning to the Fed's 2% target, he wouldn't rule out the odds of at least one cut this year.
Shutterstock
"We're in a very good position right now to take our time, get more inflation data, get more data on the economy, on the labor market, before we have to make any decisions," he said. "We're in a strong position, but if you just said there's going to be one cut, which is what the median indicated, that would likely be toward the end of the year."
Related: Stocks fight Fed forecasts after rate cut bets reset
On Wall Street, stocks are set for a muted start to the split week, with markets closed for the Juneteenth holiday on Wednesday and only a handful of top tier data releases expected over the four trading days.
Retail sales figures for May are expected prior to the start of trading on Tuesday, with weekly jobless claims, mortgage rates and PMI data set for Thursday.
Focus is soon expected to shift to the start of the second quarter- earnings season in around three weeks' time, with analysts looking for S&P 500 profits to rise 10.7% from last year to a collective $495.7 billion.
Heading into the start of the Monday trading session, futures contracts tied to the S&P 500, which is up 3.37% for the quarter and 13.87% for the year, are priced for a 2 point opening bell gain.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, are priced for a 60 point decline while premarket gains for Nvidia, Apple and Tesla (TSLA) will help the Nasdaq to a 45 point advance.
In Europe, the regional Stoxx 600 benchmark slumped to a fresh six-week low, and was last marked 0.31% lower on the session, as the echoes from last week's elections continue to reverberate in the world's biggest economic bloc.
More Wall Street Analysts:
- Analyst revamps Microsoft stock price target despite controversy
- Analysts reset Nio stock price targets after earnings
- Dollar Tree’s new price strategy prompts analysts to revise targets
Overnight in Asia, a mixed set of May data from China underscored that country's struggle to maintain a post-covid momentum and pulled benchmark stocks lower, leaving the regionwide MSCI ex-Japan index down 0.24% into the close of trading.
Japan's Nikkei 225, meanwhile, finished 0.83% lower following a muted session in Tokyo.
Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024
