Closing Stock Market SummaryToday's trade was decidedly mixed with buyers and sellers both lacking conviction ahead of next Tuesday's key inflation report in the form of the January Consumer Price Index. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 closed with modest gains while the Nasdaq finished the day with a decline. Notably, there was a late afternoon push higher, but the S&P 500 was unable to reclaim a position above the 4,100 level.
Market internals reflected the mixed action behind today's price action. Advancers led decliners by an 11-to-10 margin at the NYSE while decliners led advancers by roughly the same margin at the Nasdaq.
Lagging mega cap stocks kept pressure on index level performance. The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK) fell 0.6% while the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) registered a 0.3% gain. Tesla (TSLA 196.89, -10.43, -5.0%) was a losing standout among the mega cap stocks amid investors' concerns that a potential Department of Transportation order could force Tesla to make its charging stations available to other electric vehicles.
A weak showing from Tesla, along with Amazon.com (AMZN 97.61, -0.63, -0.6%), led the consumer discretionary sector (-1.2%) to last place among the 11 sectors. Earnings-driven losses for a few smaller components, namely Expedia Group (EXPE 107.64, -10.07, -8.6%) and Mohawk Industries (MHK 115.77, -5.70, -4.7%), also contributed to the sector's underperformance.
On the flip side, the energy sector (+3.9%) logged the biggest gain by a wide margin as oil prices reclaimed lost ground. WTI crude oil futures rose 2.6% to $79.66/bbl in response to Russia saying it is going to cut production by 500,000 barrels per day in March in response to international sanctions.
The Treasury market was also mixed today. The 10-yr note yield rose six basis points to 3.74%, losing ground after the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index showed year ahead inflation expectations increasing to 4.2% from 3.9%, while the 2-yr note yield fell one basis point to 4.51%.
Nasdaq Composite: +12.0% YTD
Russell 2000: +9.0% YTD
S&P Midcap 400: +8.6% YTD
S&P 500: +6.5% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average: +2.2% YTDReviewing today's economic data:
- February Univ. of Michigan Consumer Sentiment - Prelim 66.4 ( consensus 65.0); Prior 64.9
- The key takeaway from the report is the understanding that the year-ahead inflation expectation increased versus January, raising concerns, along with angst over rising unemployment, about consumers' future discretionary spending capacity.
- The Treasury Budget for January showed a deficit of $38.8 bln versus a surplus of $118.7 bln a year ago. The Treasury Budget data is not seasonally adjusted, so the January deficit cannot be compared to the deficit of $85.0 bln for December.
There is no U.S. economic data of note on Monday.