Daily Market Report October 22nd, 2024
Even on days when things start out sharply lower and end mainly down, there are always bright spots on the horizon, as per yesterday when the stock indexes mainly remained lower, there was a strong bright spot when some influential large-cap technology stocks really did well. And as a result, the Nasdaq actually ended higher with the most important stock of all, NVDA, breaking through its long-time resistance level of 140 and busting well above that price.
Once that took place, those who had successfully sold at that level were now forced to buy back their negative positions and buy at the market which pushed its close to a new high of 143.71.
This contributed to other large stocks in this group such as NFLX to add to its blowout numbers from Friday’s earnings report, plus AMD, GOOG, MSFT and AAPL advance as well and this resulted in the Nasdaq ending with a 50 point gain to18,540.
On the other hand, there was a poor showing from the Dow, which has been the main upward driver lately and it ended with a poor showing of a closing 344 point decline to 42,941 hurt by poor performances from some stocks that had done well– AMGN, AXP, GS, GD, TRV and V.
The S&P managed to improve from its worst levels of declines in the 30’s to finally end 10 points down to 5854 as weak showings from the large financials, real estate and housing sectors hurt the showings here and this was because of gains in bond yields.
The Russell 2000 Index of small stocks did poorly with a 36 point loss down to 2240and that was also because of negative showings from regional bank issues due to the gain in interest rates.
The VIX rose a bit on the overall stock index losses up to 18.37 as it remains in a fairly narrow range despite all of the potential Middle Eastern “concerns” that are out there and has resulted in some investors paying very high prices for negatively-oriented calls.
These overall stock losses came off of six straight winning weeks for the Dow and S&P, the latter from a record high on Friday.
Trading was mixed in markets around the world. Crude oil prices rose to regain some of last week’s sharp losses, while U.S. Treasury yields climbed and stock indexes mostly fell in Europe after finishing mixed in Asia.
The rise in yields helped knock down stocks that tend to get hurt by higher interest rates, such as big dividend payers and businesses in the housing industry. Real-estate stocks fell to the sharpest loss among the 11 sectors that make up the S&P index, while homebuilders LEN and DRI both fell at least 4.3%. HD’s 2.1% drop was one of the heaviest weights on the S&P.
The declines mean at least a pause in the rally to records, which was built in large part on optimism that the U.S. economy can make a perfect escape from the worst inflation in generations, one that ends without a recession that many investors had worried could be inevitable. With the Federal Reserve dropping interest rates to keep the economy moving along, the expectation among optimists is that stocks can rise even further.
But critics are warning that stock prices look too expensive given how much faster they have climbed than corporate profits.
That puts pressure on companies to deliver growth in profits to justify their stock prices, and more than 100 companies in the S&P are scheduled to give details this week about their performances during the summer, and the list below contains them.
BA is reporting its latest results tomorrow and it gained yesterday after reaching an agreement with the union representing its striking machinists on a contract proposal. The union’s members could vote Wednesday on the deal, which could end a costly walkout that has crippled production of airplanes for more than a month.
In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.19% from 4.08% late Friday.
The Bank of Canada will also announce its latest decision on interest rates Wednesday, where it could cut by half a percentage point.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in China after its central bank cut a couple lending rates. Lower rates can help reduce pressure on borrowers, particularly the property developers that have suffered following a crackdown on excessive borrowing several years ago. But any impact on market sentiment appeared to be short-lived.
Stocks rose 0.2% in Shanghai but fell 1.6% in Hong Kong. Chinese stocks have been zooming higher and lower in recent weeks. A slowdown for the world’s second-largest economy has raised expectations for big stimulus from theChinese government and central bank, though doubts are still prevalent about how much effect they will have.
TheThird-quarter earnings season continues to roll along this week with the following: today: – Dow component 3M plus SAP, ZION, GM, PM higher and Dow component VZ plus NUE, T, MCO, SHW lower; Wednesday – T, CME, GD, TSLA and Dow components BA and KO; Thursday – AA, DOW, HOG, LUV, VLO, UNP, UPS; Friday – AN.
Economic reports will see: yesterday - September L.E.I. declined by 0.5%; Wednesday –September existing home sales; Thursday – September new home sales, weekly jobless claims; Friday – September durable goods orders, final October U. of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey.
By Don Selkin