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U.S. stocks attempted to nudge higher in choppy trade early Tuesday, marking a wobbly February start for Wall Street after the worst month since March 2020.
Investors are looking ahead to manufacturing and jobs data, while earnings from Exxon Mobil Corp. and other corporate heavyweights were in the spotlight.
How are stock-index futures trading?
-
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
-0.28%
was up 69.53 points, or 0.2%, at 35,201.39 after major indexes flipped between small gains and losses after the opening bell. -
The S&P 500
SPX,
-0.54%
rose 6.21 points, or 0.1%, to 4,521.76. -
The Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
-1.00%
gave up 11.24 points, or 0.1%, to trade at 14,228.64.
Stocks rose sharply on Monday, but still logged big monthly declines. The Dow suffered a 3.3% January decline, the biggest monthly fall since November 2021. The S&P 500 saw a 5.3% monthly drop, the biggest since March 2020, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 9%, its biggest monthly drop since March 2020 and worst January performance since 2008.
What’s driving the markets?
Investors on Tuesday indicated some hesitancy to follow up Monday’s strong gains, which were a bright note after a dismal January performance for stocks, as investors fretted in part over worries about the prospects for higher U.S. interest rates. European markets gained on back of Wall Street’s rally, even amid Wall Street’s follow-through struggle. Chinese and some other Asian markets were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.
“Investors continue to buy the dips almost everywhere this week, with market sentiment boosted by a strong earning season so far where most companies have beaten expectations,” said Pierre Veyret, technical analyst at ActivTrades, in a note to clients.
“Technically speaking, most indexes have registered solid rebounds over major support zones and are now challenging key resistance levels. If cleared, these resistances could open the doors to an extended rally, potentially driving prices up to new record highs on the short to midterm basis,” he said.
Read: Bears beware. Past corrections for the S&P 500 are only 15% on average, outside of recessions
On the U.S. data front, investors will get the Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index for January, along with data on job openings and construction spending for December, all at 10 a.m. Eastern Time.
Overnight, the Reserve Bank of Australia radically raised its economic forecasts, due to a much better performance out of the economy, but the bank said it would wait to see inflation firmly entrenched within the 2%-3% target band before hiking rates.
Investors were fielding earnings from Exxon Mobil and others Tuesday, with more big technology results after Tuesday’s close from Google parent Alphabet
GOOGL,
along with PayPal
PYPL,
and Advanced Micro Devices
AMD,
Read: You can still find a haven in tech stocks: These 20 offer the safety net of highly stable profits
What companies are in focus?
-
AT&T Inc.
T,
-4.96%
on Tuesday said it would spin off its interest in WarnerMedia following the unit’s merger with Discovery. AT&T also said its board approved an annual dividend of $1.11 a share, down from $2.08, to account for the Warner Bros. spinoff. AT&T shares fell 4.8%. -
Tesla Inc.
TSLA,
-3.02%
will recall 53,822 vehicles because of an issue with its “rolling stop” functionality. Shares were down 0.6%. -
Shares of United Parcel Service
UPS,
+12.27%
surged 12% after the package delivery giant reported earnings and revenue well above expectations. -
Exxon Mobil stock
XOM,
+3.76%
rose 0.7% after the energy giant reported an earnings beat, though revenue fell short of consensus. -
AMC Entertainment shares
AMC,
+4.08%
jumped 9.5% after the cinema -chain operator offered fourth-quarter guidance, with revenue ahead of consensus, though a net-loss range bigger than expected. -
Sirius XM stock
SIRI,
+0.71%
rose 0.9% after the satellite radio company topped profit and revenue expectations, and provided an upbeat outlook, along with declaring a special dividend.
How are other assets trading?
-
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note
TMUBMUSD10Y,
1.810%
was up 0.1 basis point at 1.781%. Yields and debt prices move opposite each other. -
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index
DXY,
-0.19% ,
a measure of the currency against a basket of six major rivals, was down 0.2%. -
West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery
CLH22,
-0.76%
fell 0.9%. Gold’s April futures contract
GCJ22,
+0.31%
rose 0.6% to $1,806.50 an ounce. -
Bitcoin
BTCUSD,
-0.50%
was trading up 1.2%, just shy of $39,000. -
In European equities, the Stoxx Europe 600
SXXP,
+1.15%
rose 1.3%, while London’s FTSE 100 UKX
UKX,
+0.85%
gained 0.9%. -
The Nikkei 225 NIK
NIK,
+0.28%
finished up 0.2%. Markets in China and in other parts of Asia are closed for Lunar New Year.
