US stocks rise on improved sentiment; big tech earnings, nonfarm payrolls loom

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks rose Monday, boosted by easing geopolitical tensions at the start of a week that includes key tech earnings, monthly nonfarm payrolls figures, and the final days of campaigning before the US presidential election.

At 09:35 ET (13:35 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 290 points, or 0.7%, the S&P 500 index climbed 34 points, or 0.6%, and the NASDAQ Composite rose 125 points, or 0.7%.  Oil prices slide, risk appetite improves 

Risk appetite has soared Monday, while crude prices have fallen sharply, after Israel launched a retaliatory strike against Iran over the weekend, but avoided hitting key nuclear and oil facilities.

Iran also signaled limited damage from the attack, drumming up hopes that a bigger conflict will not break out in the Middle East, which could potentially have dragged the US into the war. 

By 09:35 ET, the Brent contract dropped 5.7% to $71.31 per barrel, while U.S. crude futures (WTI) traded 6% lower at $67.45 per barrel.

Traders had feared that any attacks on Iran’s oil and nuclear infrastructure would mark a dire escalation in the conflict, potentially disrupting oil supplies from the crude-rich region. Nasdaq hits record high ahead of tech earnings

Wall Street indexes clocked a mixed close on Friday, with the Nasdaq hitting a record intraday high, while the S&P 500 and DJIA both floundered below recent peaks.

Positioning in technology stocks have ramped up before a string of key technology earnings this week, with the Nasdaq hitting a record intraday high, ahead of earnings from five of Wall Street’s “Magnificent Seven” in the coming days.

Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL ) will report on Tuesday, Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META ) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT ) on Wednesday, before Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL ) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN ) on Thursday.

The five firms make up a large chunk of market valuations on Wall Street, with their earnings likely to act as a bellwether for the broader market. This week's earnings are also expected to show whether the artificial intelligence trade remained in play, as major companies ramped up capital spending on the new technology. Payrolls heads up packed data slate

Beyond the major earnings, the focus this week will also be on a string of key economic readings, headed up by Friday's monthly jobs report.

Friday’s employment report is expected to show that jobs growth slowed to a more modest 111,000 in October, reflecting the impact of strikes and weather-related disruptions from Hurricane Helene and Milton. The unemployment rate  is forecast to remain unchanged at 4.1%.

While Fed officials will likely look through temporary factors affecting payroll numbers, Tuesday's JOLTS  data for September and Thursday's report on initial jobless claims  will be closely watched for any signs of softening in the labor market.

Gross domestic product data for the third quarter is also due on Wednesday, and the following day sees the report on personal income and spending, which contains the central bank’s preferred inflation measure, the core PCE price index . Presidential election draws near

Also in focus will be the upcoming presidential election, with voting due on Nov. 5.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris are tied in national and swing state polling, but former president Trump has improved his margins in recent weeks. The former president is also a slight favourite in election prediction markets.

(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)

 

Source: Investing.com