U.S. stocks had a positive start to the week, with the S&P 500 Index looking to end a four-day losing streak. Despite concerns in China relating to liquidity issues with Zhongzhi Enterprise Group Co., investors responded favorably by purchasing sectors that had recently experienced declines, particularly in the tech and semiconductor industries.
Shares of NVIDIA Corp. saw a surge of over 5% on Monday, marking their strongest session since May 2023. Rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. rose 2.4%, while Marvell Technology Inc. gained nearly 4%. The VanEck Semiconductors ETF rose 2%, its best daily performance in a month.
Bond yields continued to rise, with the 10-year yield briefly reaching 4.20%, its highest level since November 2022. Key economic events for the week include the release of retail sales data on Tuesday and the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s July FOMC meeting on Wednesday. Notable retail earnings reports from Walmart, Inc., Target Corp., and Home Depot are also expected during the week.
In terms of performance, the S&P 500 Index rose 0.4%, while blue-chip companies in the Dow Jones remained steady for the day. The Nasdaq 100 index outperformed with an increase of 0.8%, while small caps eased by 0.4%.
In analyst commentary, fund manager Louis Navellier stated that the market weakness in August should not overly concern traders. He noted that while stocks have been soft, August is historically a weak month, and with record-breaking performance in the first seven months of the year, investors should not be discouraged.
In terms of ETF performance, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust was 0.3% higher, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF held steady, and the Invesco QQQ Trust was 0.8% higher.
Sector performance in U.S. equity sectors was mixed, with the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund and the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund showing gains, while the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund and the Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund experienced losses.
Key economic data releases for the week include the FOMC minutes, July retail sales report, regional manufacturing activity surveys, July industrial production data, July housing starts data, and the Conference Board’s leading economic index for July. Traders will also keep an eye on the weekly jobless claims data.
In individual stock news, AMC Entertainment Holdings shares plunged, while United States Steel Corp. jumped after receiving an offer from Cleveland-Cliffs. Tesla fell after announcing cuts in China, and Nikola Corp. fell after recalling vehicles. Notable companies reporting after the close include Alcon, Inc. and Navitas Semiconductor Corp.
In commodities, crude oil fell, treasury yields remained steady, the dollar fell, and European equity indexes closed in a mixed manner. Gold and silver saw slight declines, while Bitcoin rose.
