Stocks ended higher Monday, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 closing at fresh record highs, as investors braced for a crucial week for markets that includes the Fed's latest rate decision and May's consumer price index.
The S&P 500 rose 0.26% to 5,360.79, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 0.35% to 17,192.53. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 69 points, or 0.18%, to end at 38,868.04.
“With inflation holding above the Fed's target, the central bank is expected to hold monetary policy unchanged at the June decision,” said Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank.
“June's quarterly update of the Fed's dot plot — projections for real GDP, unemployment, and inflation, as well as policymakers' views about the most appropriate course for monetary policy will likely show a majority of policymakers think two interest rate cuts of a quarter percentage point each will likely be appropriate before the end of 2024," he added.
Adams said that the Fed will likely hold its forward guidance largely unchanged.
"On the one hand, the Fed would not hesitate to raise rates further if they assess that interest rates need to be higher to control inflation," he said. "On the other hand, most Fed policymakers think rates are already high enough to keep inflation headed lower, and expect it to cool later this year and open the door to interest rate cuts."
Updated at 11:43 AM EDT
Turning green
The S&P 500 was last marked 4 points higher, or 0.07%, heading into the mid-day session, with the Nasdaq up 51 points, or 0.3% and the Dow off 47 points.
Benchmark 2-year note yields were last trading at 4.876%, while 10-year notes inched higher, to 4.463% ahead of this week's heavy slate of economic and central bank data.
This week’s data dump pic.twitter.com/MDrL3ktvIa
— Liz Ann Sonders (@LizAnnSonders) June 10, 2024
Updated at 11:06 AM EDT
Split definitive
Nvidia shares turned higher on the stock's debut trading day following a 10-for-1 share split that was completed at the close of trading Friday.
The stock is also getting a boost from a handful of analyst price target changes and talk of its possible inclusion into the Dow.
Nvidia shares were last seen trading at $121.80 each, a split-adjusted gain of 0.63% when compared to the Friday closing price.
Related: Analysts reset Nvidia stock price targets amid split, Dow entry talk
Updated at 10:12 AM EDT
Apple on watch
Apple shares are drifting lower in the opening hour of trading, but are still close their Friday all-time peak, as investors look to today's WWDC event in California and the likely unveiling of the tech giant's highly-anticipated AI strategy.
Apple shares were marked 0.85% lower in early Monday trading and changing hands at $195.20 each, just a few points shy of Friday's $199.62 record high.
Related: Apple's AI launch at WWDC could hinge on something it hates to do
Updated at 9:40 AM EDT
Soft open
The S&P 500 was marked 12 points, or 0.21% lower in the opening minutes of trading while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 73 points. The Nasdaq was last down 35 points, or 0.2%.
Crowdstrike Holdings (CRWD) shares surged 9.62% to $382.71 after the cybersecurity group was added to the S&P 500 on Friday, alongside private equity group KKR (KKR) , which rose 7% to $104.88 and web services group GoDaddy (GDDY) , which was last up 1.7% at $141.72 each.
S&P 500 Opening Bell Heatmap (Jun. 10, 2024)$SPY -0.24% 🟥$QQQ -0.19% 🟥$DJI -0.22% 🟥$IWM -0.96% 🟥
— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) June 10, 2024
* $NVDA stock split in effect (% not accurate) pic.twitter.com/M08PHhKnbq
Stock Market Today
Stocks ended the Friday session modestly lower but booked gains for the week, following a mixed series of labor-market data. The data culminated with a much-stronger-than-expected May employment report, which showed 272,000 new jobs added and a reacceleration in average hourly earnings.
The report stoked concerns that inflation pressures are likely to remain elevated into the summer months and pummeled bets that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates in September.
The Fed's June policy decision is set for Wednesday afternoon, alongside fresh growth and inflation projections from central bank officials. Ahead of that move, traders are pegging the odds of a September reduction at less than 50% but have kept Treasury yields largely unchanged from Friday.
Benchmark 10-year-note yields were last marked at 4.455% while 2-year notes were changing hands at 4.881% heading into the start of the New York trading session.
The U.S. dollar index, however, was marked 0.42% higher at 105.326, the highest since early May. That's thanks to a big decline in the euro triggered by weekend election results that showed a surge in support for far-right parties across the world's biggest economic bloc.
French President Emmanuel Macron, in fact, called a snap national election for June 30 based on the advance of his far-right rivals in the region's second-largest economy. The decision added to a host of headline political risks markets will need to navigate over the coming months.
On Wall Street this week, investors will also digest two key inflation readings, including the Commerce Department's Consumer Price Index report on Wednesday, as well as earnings from Oracle (ORCL) , Broadcom (AVGO) and Adobe (ADBE) .
Apple (AAPL) will host its highly anticipated World Wide Developers' Conference today in California, with investors looking for big updates on the tech giant's AI ambitions.
Nvidia (NVDA) will begin the first day of trading following Friday's 10-for-1 stock split.
Heading into the start of the trading day, futures contracts tied to the S&P 500, which is up 12.1% for the year, are priced for a 15-point opening-bell gain while the Dow Jones Industrial Average is called 140 points lower.
The tech-focused Nasdaq, meanwhile, is called 45 points lower, with early gains for Apple and modest declines for Nvidia and Tesla (TSLA) .
More Wall Street Analysts:
- Analysts compute new HP stock price target after earnings
- Analysts retool C3.ai stock price target after earnings
- Analysts reboot Dell stock price targets ahead of earnings
In overseas markets, Europe's Stoxx 600 was marked 0.8% lower in Frankfurt following the parliamentary elections results and France's snap-election call, with Britain's FTSE 100 down 0.42% in London.
France's CAC-40, meanwhile, slumped 2.05% in Paris while benchmark 10-year OATs, the equivalent of a U.S. Treasury bond, saw yields rise to 3.19%, the highest level of the year.
Overnight in Asia, a weaker yen helped the Nikkei 225 close 0.8% higher in Tokyo, with banks and exports stocks leading the advance. The regionwide MSCI ex-Japan benchmark slipped 0.43% into the close of trading.
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