Closing Stock Market SummaryToday's trade shaped up to be decidedly positive, but it wasn't always that way. The major indices experienced choppy action most of the session, pressured by rising Treasury yields and price action in Apple (AAPL 138.92, +0.54, +0.4%). The stock market shifted into rally mode in the afternoon, however, which brought the S&P 500 above the 3,800 level. The shift in momentum coincided with the U.S. Dollar Index, which had been on a steady decline, taking another leg lower.
The U.S. Dollar Index fell 1.8% on Friday and was down another 0.7% to 110.16 today.
The stock market showed impressive resilience to selling today, which acted as its own positive catalyst. Other supporting factors included speculation that China could relax its zero-COVID policy in coming months and an expectation that the midterm election results will lead to legislative gridlock that will make it near impossible to pass any new tax hikes or big spending plans.
Apple, which was able to squeeze out a slim gain, suffered losses and weighed on index level performance earlier today. This comes after the company cut its iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max production expectations. The reaction was not outsized given that the specter of such a warning loomed large over Apple last week, which declined nearly 11% from its high on Tuesday to its close on Friday.
Market breadth reflected broad buying interest. Advancers led decliners by a roughly 2-to-1 margin at the NYSE and a 4-to-3 margin at the Nasdaq.
Most of the S&P 500 sectors closed in positive territory. Communication services (+1.8%) sat atop the leaderboard, boosted by gains in Meta Platforms (META 96.72, +5.93, +6.5%) after The Wall Street Journal reported the company is planning large layoffs that will help Meta cut costs.
The energy sector (+1.7%), which will presumably face less regulatory pressure in a gridlock environment, was another winning standout today. Energy complex futures settled the session in mixed fashion. WTI crude oil futures fell 0.7% to $91.99/bbl while natural gas futures rose 8.1% to $7.27/mmbtu.
On the flip side, the utilities (-1.9%) sector suffered the steepest loss.
Buyers in the equity market were not deterred when the 10-yr Treasury note yield settled at 4.21% and the 2-yr note yield rose six basis points to 4.73%.
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH), Perrigo (PRGO), Expeditors Intl (EXPD), Constellation Energy (CEG), DuPont (DD), GlobalFoundries (GFS), Squarespace (SQSP), and Coty (COTY) are among the notable earnings reporters ahead of Tuesday's open.
Economic data on Tuesday is limited to the October NFIB Small Business Optimism Index (prior 92.1) at 6:00 a.m. ET.
Today's economic data was limited to the consumer credit report for September, which showed an increased of $25.0 bln following an upwardly revised $30.1 billion (from $23.8 billion) in August.
Dow Jones Industrial Average: -9.7% YTD
S&P Midcap 400: -14.6% YTD
S&P 500: -20.1% YTD
Russell 2000: -19.4% YTD
Nasdaq Composite: -32.5% YTD