Closing Stock Market Summary
Today's index-level price action was fairly limited. The S&P 500 (+0.2%) and Nasdaq Composite (+0.4%) spent most of the session trading near yesterday's closing levels while the Russell 2000 continued its recent outperformance, climbing 1.3%.
Meanwhile, the price-weighted Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.3% due in part to a loss in its heaviest component, UnitedHealth (UNH 513.42, -11.90, -2.3%), on news that the Department of Justice has launched an antitrust investigation into the company, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The overall vibe in the market was positive, but there wasn't a lot of conviction on the part of buyers. Importantly, though, there wasn't a lot of conviction on the part of sellers either, which acted as a positive catalyst for the market.
A turnaround in shares of Apple (AAPL 182.63, +1.47, +0.8%) also supported market today, propelling the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite to session highs in the afternoon trade. Apple had been down as much as 0.9%, but settled 0.8% higher after news that it's cancelling efforts to build an electric car and will focus on generative artificial intelligence, according to Bloomberg.
The indices were already heading slightly higher in front of the Apple news, though, in response to today's solid $42 billion 7-yr note offering. This followed yesterday's weak sales of 2- and 5-yr notes. The Treasury market didn't react much to today's auction results. The 2-yr note yield declined two basis points today to 4.71% and the 10-yr note yield rose two basis points to 4.32%.
Many stocks participated in the afternoon climb, leaving seven of the 11 S&P 500 sectors higher. The utilities sector saw the biggest gain, 1.9%, thanks to a big earnings-related rise in shares of Constellation Energy (CEG 155.76, +22.54, +16.9%).
Constellation Energy was one of the top performing stocks in the S&P 500 today, trailing only Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH 19.09, +3.16, +19.8%), which also traded higher following pleasing earnings news.
Macy's (M 19.92, +0.65, +3.4%) and Lowe's (LOW 235.39, +4.07, +1.9%) were also notable names that reported earnings since yesterday's close, receiving positive reactions from investors.
- Nasdaq Composite: +6.8% YTD
- S&P 500: +6.5% YTD
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: +3.4% YTD
- S&P Midcap 400: +3.1% YTD
- Russell 2000: +1.4% YTD
Reviewing today's economic data:
- January Durable Orders -6.1% (consensus -4.4%); Prior was revised to -0.3% from 0.0%; January Durable Goods - ex transportation -0.3% (consensus 0.3%); Prior was revised to -0.1% from 0.6%
- The key takeaway from the report is that it sends a poor signal about the state of business spending, as nondefense capital goods orders were down 19.4%.
- January FHFA Housing Price Index 0.1%; Prior was revised to 0.4% from 0.3%
- December S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index 6.1% (consensus 6.0%); Prior 5.4%
- February Consumer Confidence 106.7 (consensus 114.6); Prior was revised to 110.9 from 114.8
- The key takeaway from the report is that consumers have become a bit more pessimistic about the short-term outlook for business and the labor market, but their view of short-term income prospects improved slightly.
Looking ahead, Wednesday's economic calendar features:
- 7:00 ET: Weekly MBA Mortgage Index (prior -10.6%)
- 8:30 ET: Q4 GDP -- second estimate (consensus 3.2%; prior 3.3%), Q4 GDP Deflator -- second estimate (consensus 1.5%; prior 1.5%), advance January goods trade balance (prior -$88.5 bln), advance January Retail Inventories (prior 0.8%), and advance January Wholesale Inventories (prior 0.4%)
- 10:30 ET: Weekly crude oil inventories (prior +3.51 mln)