Earnings season shifts into high gear this week, with Wall Street heavyweights, including Tesla, Ford, GM , Netflix, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola , IBM and Intel, set to report. Their results will offer a fresh stress test for equities trading near lofty valuations.
Upcoming U.S. regional bank results will also be monitored to get a read of the sector’s health, after renewed fears of systemic credit stress triggered a flight to safety last week.
S&P 500 companies are expected to post a 9.3% year-on-year growth in third-quarter earnings, according to LSEG IBES data. But with expectations running high, investors will look for strong beats to justify the market’s recent rally.
“Renewed credit concerns and concerns over trade policy are indicative of just how vulnerable the market conditions are,” said Jordan Rizzuto, chief investment officer at GammaRoad Capital Partners.
U.S. President Donald Trump suggested easing tariffs on China if Beijing resumes key agricultural purchases such as soybeans. He, however, blamed the latest breakdown in talks on China’s tightening control over rare earth exports.Meanwhile, Trump vowed to keep “massive” duties on India unless it halts Russian oil imports, and considered raising levies on Colombia amid a feud over its role in illicit drug trade.At 09:51 a.m., the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 254.07 points, or 0.55%, to 46,452.52. The S&P 500 gained 50.26 points, or 0.75%, to 6,713.77, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 234.19 points, or 1.03%, to 22,914.16.
AI-driven optimism continued to boost markets, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index hitting an all-time high. It was last up 1.8%.
Micron shares rose 3.2% and hit a record high after Barclays raised its price target on the stock. ON Semiconductor and KLA added 4.4% and 3.7%, respectively.
S&P Energy index gained 0.7%, while industrials added almost 1%.
DELAYED CPI
A U.S. government shutdown, which began on October 1, has halted key economic data releases, leaving investors without crucial indicators. That places Friday’s consumer price report, a pivotal inflation gauge, firmly in the spotlight ahead of the Federal Reserve‘s policy meeting on October 28-29.
While September’s core inflation is expected to hold steady at 3.1%, markets widely expect a quarter-point rate cut this month, with another reduction likely in December.
“The reports that come out, not just this one, but also in the coming months, still will not answer how trade policy over the longer term is going to influence inflationary pressures,” Rizzuto said.
Among other stocks, Applovin dropped 5.1% after Fuzzy Panda disclosed a short position in the company.
Boeing rose 1.3% after the planemaker won approval from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to raise 737 MAX production to 42 planes per month.
WeightWatchers climbed 11.2% after the company partnered with Amazon for weight-loss drug delivery.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 6.13-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 4.24-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 posted 10 new 52-week highs and three new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 43 new highs and 33 new lows.
