Stocks finished lower Monday, as investors prepped for a holiday-shortened week following the strongest five-day run for stocks this year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.41% to 39,313.64, the S&P 500 lost 0.31 to 5,218.19, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq finished the day down 0.27% to 16,384.47.
Stocks ended mixed on Friday with the Nasdaq squeezing out a modest gain as the three major indexes notched their strongest weekly gains of the year on the back of the Federal Reserve's rate cut signaling, solid economic data and the ongoing rally in market-leading chip stocks.
Updated at 1:13 PM EDT
Dictum meum pactum
The Treasury's first benchmark auction since the Fed's March policy meeting, which reiterated its forecast for three 2024 rate cuts, drew solid demand from foreign investors.
So-called indirect bidders took down around 65.8% of the $66 billion sale, auction data indicated, up from around 65.2% at a similar sale last month.
Overall, investors placed bids with around $173 billion for the paper on offer, generating a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.62, well up from the 2.49 tally notched last month.
The Treasury will hold 5-year and 7-year bond auctions later this week.
For all the handwringing about the size of US govt debt, the amount awarded to indirect bidders - a proxy for foreign demand - at 2-year Treasury auctions has been on a clear trajectory higher for more than a decade pic.twitter.com/KqQmJZN28t
— Robert Burgess (@BobOnMarkets) March 25, 2024
Updated at 101:40 AM EDT
Still solid
Stocks were only modestly lower heading into the mid-day session, with the S&P 500 down 8 points, or 0.15%, but still on pace for one of its best first quarter gains on record.
The benchmark is up more than 10% since the start of the year, just shy of the tech-focused Nasdaq's 11.1% advance, and analysts at HSBC have boosted their year-end target level to 5,400 points, citing the increased chances for a 'soft landing' in the world's biggest economy.
This could go down as one of the best Q1 ever.
— Ryan Detrick, CMT (@RyanDetrick) March 25, 2024
When up 10% (take note, 2024 isn't there yet, but close) the final 9 months gained 10 of 11 times. 🔥
Yes, 1987 was the one. 🛑
Interesting that election yrs in 1976 and 2012 saw modest gains rest of the year back then. 🤔 pic.twitter.com/6W6moK6eb4
Updated at 10:01 AM EDT
Softer open
The S&P 500 gave back another 12 points, or 0.23%, in the opening half hour of trading as investors looked to book recent profits from the benchmark, which hasn't had a more than 2% decline in more than 100 trading days, ahead of this week's Easter lull.
The Nasdaq, meanwhile, was down 50 points, or 0.3%, while the Dow fell by around 107 points despite a modest gain for Boeing.
This week’s data dump pic.twitter.com/A2FxXjPFlq
— Liz Ann Sonders (@LizAnnSonders) March 25, 2024
Updated at 8:37 AM EDT
Boeing, Boeing ... gone
Boeing BA shares powered higher in early Monday trading after the planemaker unveiled a major management shake-up that includes the imminent departure of CEO Dave Calhoun.
Calhoun has overseen a 43% slump in Boeing shares since he took over from Dennis Muilenburg in 2020 as has struggled to win back investor and client trust tied to the safety of its flagship 737 Max aircraft program and its sprawling production empire.
Boeing shares were marked 3.4% higher in pre-market trading following new of the departures to indicate an opening bell price of $195.35 each.
Related: Boeing shares leap as it unveils CEO exit, major leadership changes
Updated at 7:37 AM EDT
EU probe
Apple (AAPL) , Alphabet (GOOG) and Meta Platforms (META) shares edged lower in early Monday trading after antitrust regulators in Europe launched a probe into each of three tech giants for potential breaches of the EU's Digital Markets Act.
The EU is looking into Meta's recent move to force users to pay for an ad-free model on its platform, Apple's alleged preference for its Safari browser in the App Store and Alphabet's alleged abuse of its market position in search.
Apple shares were marked 0.66% lower at $171.15 each, while Alphabet slipped 0.63% to $150.81 each. Meta Platforms fell 0.853% to $505.33 each.
The EU opened an investigation into $AAPL, $GOOGL and $META, in its first probe under the sweeping new Digital Markets Act tech legislation. https://t.co/c3GZOqvz8l
— notreload (@thudderwicks) March 25, 2024
Stock Market Today
Stocks ended mixed on Friday with the Nasdaq squeezing out a modest gain as the three major indexes notched their strongest weekly gains of the year on the back of the Federal Reserve's rate cut signaling, solid economic data and the ongoing rally in market-leading chip stocks.
Goldman Sachs analyst David Kostin in fact sees the so-called Magnificent 7 tech stocks, which include AI chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) , supporting further gains over the coming months in a report that lifted the bank's bullish end-of-year target for the S&P 500 to 6,000 points.
On the flip side, former 'bond king' Bill Gross, the co-founder of PIMCO, warned late last week that “excessive exuberance” has carried markets to their recent string of all-time highs, powered in large part by "deficit spending and AI enthusiasm."
Investors are unlikely to find clarity on either side of the ledger this week, with the trading calendar reduced to four days owing to the Easter observance Friday and a light slate of economic data releases and corporate earnings on tap.
The week's highlight indeed will fall on Good Friday, when markets in the U.S. and Europe are closed. That's the release of the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, the PCE Price Index, for the month of February.
Monday's focus is likely to fall on the bond market, where the Treasury will sell $66 billion in new 2-year notes later today as part of a three-day funding run that will raise around $176 billion and test investor appetite in the current inflation environment.
Benchmark 2-year-note yields were last marked at 4.615% heading into the start of the New York trading session, having fallen around 14 basis points last week following the Fed's dovish rate forecasting.
The U.S. dollar index, meanwhile, was marked 0.31% higher at 104.326 as the yen continued to weaken on global foreign exchange markets and the euro eased on renewed European Central Bank rate-cut bets.
On Wall Street, stocks look set for a modestly weaker opening, with the S&P 500 poised for a 19 point decline and the Dow Jones Industrial Average called 108 points lower.
The Nasdaq, meanwhile, is called around 110 points lower with chip stocks such as Intel (INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) leading the decliners. The move follows a report that suggests China has introduced import guidelines that could limit that sale of U.S.-made semiconductors.
In overseas markets, Europe's regionwide Stoxx 600, which hit an all-time high of 510.46 points last week, slipped 0.24% in early Frankfurt trading while Britain's FTSE 100 was down around 0.33%.
Overnight in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 snapped a four-day winning streak with a 1.16% decline amid warnings from a government official that could suggest intervention to support the yen. The Japanese currency is withing touching distance of a 32-year low against the U.S. dollar.
The regionwide MSCI ex-Japan index, meanwhile, was marked 0.12% lower into the close of trading.
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