Global stock indexes rose on Monday as investors awaited earnings reports this week from several of the biggest U.S. tech-related companies, while oil prices fell sharply after Israel’s retaliatory strike against Iran at the weekend bypassed oil and nuclear facilities.
The Japanese yen fell to a three-month low against the dollar following an election in Japan thrust the country into political turmoil.
Against the yen, the dollar rose by as much as 1% to a high of 153.88, the yen’s weakest level since late July. The dollar was last up 0.68% at 153.34 yen.
U.S. earnings season is in full swing, with a long list of names due to report this week including five of the biggest U.S. companies: Google parent Alphabet, Microsoft, Facebook owner Meta Platforms, Apple and Amazon.com.
The week also brings the U.S. jobs report for October on Friday, while investors are keeping a close eye on political news with the U.S. presidential election just over a week away.
Employers are expected to have added 123,000 jobs during October, while the unemployment rate is likely to have stayed steady at 4.1%, according to economists polled by Reuters.,
The election for U.S. president is expected to be close. Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, was leading Republican Donald Trump nationally by a marginal 46% to 43%, a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll showed. U.S. voters head to the polls on Nov. 5.
Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields hit a three-month high ahead of this week’s data and the election. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes was last up 5.2 basis points at 4.284% versus 4.232% late on Friday.
“It’s the calm before the storm,” said Subadra Rajappa, head of U.S. rates strategy at Societe Generale in New York. “A lot of investors are a little bit more cautious heading into the elections.”
Energy shares eased along with oil prices. The S&P 500 energy sector was down 0.8%., and U.S. crude oil futures fell $4.40, or 6.1%, to settle at $67.38 a barrel.
The three major U.S. stock indexes rose.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 296.60 points, or 0.70%, to 42,411.00, the S&P 500 rose 22.64 points, or 0.39%, to 5,830.76, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 85.99 points, or 0.46%, to 18,604.59.
Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, parent company of Trump’s Truth Social platform, surged to their highest level since June on Monday, extending a recent rally.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe rose 3.06 points, or 0.36%, to 848.55. The STOXX 600 index rose 0.41%.
In Japan, Tokyo’s Nikkei closed up 1.8%, after initially dipping following the election result.
Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party lost its parliamentary majority. The party, with junior coalition partner Komeito, won 215 lower-house seats in Sunday’s election, public broadcaster NHK reported, well short of the 233 needed for a majority.
In other currencies, the dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, fell 0.07% to 104.31, while the euro was up 0.19% at $1.0813.
Wall Street closed higher on Monday ahead of a packed week of earnings from megacap companies and the final stretch before the Nov. 5 presidential election, while sentiment also improved after energy supplies were not disrupted by weekend developments in the Middle East.
Israel’s response over the weekend to an Iranian missile attack this month focused, so far, on missile factories and other sites near Tehran, rather than on refineries or nuclear targets.
Wall Street was focused on the week ahead, notably corporate results, with around 169 S&P 500 companies scheduled to report through the week.
That includes the bulk of the “Magnificent Seven” group of megacap technology stocks that have driven Wall Street to all-time highs. Alphabet, Meta Platforms and Apple rose, ahead of results this week.
According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 16.02 points, or 0.28%, to end at 5,824.14 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 48.58 points, or 0.29%, to 18,572.63. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 275.42 points, or 0.65%, to 42,389.82.
Comentários