U.S. stocks began the week on a mostly down note Monday, edging backward after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated in a television interview that the central bank will take its time in delivering interest-rate cuts. Investors also weighed earnings, including results from Dow components Caterpillar Inc.
CAT,
+2.56%
and McDonald’s Corp.
MCD,
-3.64%,
after big-tech earnings drove a stock-market rally last week.
What’s happening
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA
dropped 185 points, or 0.5%, to 38,468.
The S&P 500
SPX
fell 3.4 points, or 0.1%, to 4,955.
The Nasdaq Composite
COMP
edged up 5 points, or less than 0.1%, to 15,637.
On Friday, the Dow scored its ninth record-high close of 2024, while results from Meta Platforms Inc.
META,
-1.54%
and Amazon.com Inc.
AMZN,
-1.08%
helped lift the S&P 500 to its seventh record-high close of the year.Market drivers Stocks extended an early decline after the Institute for Supply Management said its services index climbed to 53.5% in January, from a seven-month low of 50.5% in December. Economists by polled by the Wall Street Journal had predicted an ISM reading of 52.0%. The strong data may reinforce expectations the Federal Reserve will hold off on delivering rate cuts, analysts said. “The Fed is watching for signs that the economy might be weakening, which may make them lean towards an earlier start to rate cuts. But the latest data shows the opposite,” Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank, said in a call. Expectations that the Fed would begin cutting rates as early as March had already taken a hit after Powell indicated last Wednesday, following the central bank’s policy meeting, that such an early move was unlikely. Over the weekend, Powell used an appearance on “60 Minutes” to again push back on the idea the central bank would cut rates in March. “I think investors were a little over their skis in anticipating the Fed cutting a lot,” James Demmert, founder and chief investment officer of Main Street Research, said in a phone interview. It would make sense for stocks to “take a breather” this week after a huge rally, but investors would be wise to use pullbacks to fill out their portfolios, Demmert said. Investors would also be well-served by paying less attention to the Fed and more attention to solid earnings, which have been the real foundation of the rally, he added. Friday also saw the release of U.S. payrolls data, which showed a surprisingly strong 353,000 jobs created in January, further denting expectations for rapid rate cuts. “It’s good news to have strong economic growth,” Comerica Bank’s Adams said. He added that he would be worried if the market expects the Fed to keep its policy rate higher for longer, but is not concerned if the Fed plans to cut its key interest rate slowly due to strong economic data. See: Stock-market investors fear ‘no-landing’ economy could spell trouble. What’s next. For today, “expect the focus on th …
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CAT,
+2.56%
and McDonald’s Corp.
MCD,
-3.64%,
after big-tech earnings drove a stock-market rally last week.
What’s happening
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA
dropped 185 points, or 0.5%, to 38,468.
The S&P 500
SPX
fell 3.4 points, or 0.1%, to 4,955.
The Nasdaq Composite
COMP
edged up 5 points, or less than 0.1%, to 15,637.
On Friday, the Dow scored its ninth record-high close of 2024, while results from Meta Platforms Inc.
META,
-1.54%
and Amazon.com Inc.
AMZN,
-1.08%
helped lift the S&P 500 to its seventh record-high close of the year.Market drivers Stocks extended an early decline after the Institute for Supply Management said its services index climbed to 53.5% in January, from a seven-month low of 50.5% in December. Economists by polled by the Wall Street Journal had predicted an ISM reading of 52.0%. The strong data may reinforce expectations the Federal Reserve will hold off on delivering rate cuts, analysts said. “The Fed is watching for signs that the economy might be weakening, which may make them lean towards an earlier start to rate cuts. But the latest data shows the opposite,” Bill Adams, chief economist for Comerica Bank, said in a call. Expectations that the Fed would begin cutting rates as early as March had already taken a hit after Powell indicated last Wednesday, following the central bank’s policy meeting, that such an early move was unlikely. Over the weekend, Powell used an appearance on “60 Minutes” to again push back on the idea the central bank would cut rates in March. “I think investors were a little over their skis in anticipating the Fed cutting a lot,” James Demmert, founder and chief investment officer of Main Street Research, said in a phone interview. It would make sense for stocks to “take a breather” this week after a huge rally, but investors would be wise to use pullbacks to fill out their portfolios, Demmert said. Investors would also be well-served by paying less attention to the Fed and more attention to solid earnings, which have been the real foundation of the rally, he added. Friday also saw the release of U.S. payrolls data, which showed a surprisingly strong 353,000 jobs created in January, further denting expectations for rapid rate cuts. “It’s good news to have strong economic growth,” Comerica Bank’s Adams said. He added that he would be worried if the market expects the Fed to keep its policy rate higher for longer, but is not concerned if the Fed plans to cut its key interest rate slowly due to strong economic data. See: Stock-market investors fear ‘no-landing’ economy could spell trouble. What’s next. For today, “expect the focus on th …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]