Opening Comment — Monday, May 20, 2024
DJIA: 40,003.59, up 134.21
S&P 500: 5,303.27, up 6.17
NASDAQ: 16,685.97, down 12.35
Stocks higher as the week begins
Stock futures are higher on Monday, as investors await comments from multiple Federal Reserve (Fed) speakers today. Investors are also looking forward to the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC’s) May 1 meeting minutes, due Wednesday, and major economic releases scheduled for this week. The Dow is rising 0.1%, while the S&P 500 is increasing 0.2%. The Nasdaq 100 is increasing 0.3% relative to fair value on the GLOBEX.
U.S. equities were mixed on Friday, as the Dow closed above the 40,000 mark for the first time. Investors continued to assess last week’s inflation data and speculated on the Fed’s future path of monetary policy. The Dow was up 0.3%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 0.1%. The S&P 500 increased 0.1% with eight of 11 sectors finishing in positive territory. The Energy sector gained the most, rising 1.4%.
On the data front Friday, the Conference Board’s U.S. Leading Economic Index decreased 0.6% month-over-month in April versus the prior month’s decrease of 0.3%.
Across the pond, European stocks are mostly higher in mid-day trading ahead of May’s preliminary Purchasing Managers’ Indexes (PMIs) and other key economic data scheduled for this week.
Overnight in Asia, stocks were higher following Chinese banks deciding to leave the one- and five-year loan prime rates unchanged.
In FOREX trading, the dollar is little changed ahead of comments from multiple Fed officials scheduled today.
Over in the commodity pits, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is 0.3% lower at $79.81/barrel, despite political instability in key oil-producing nations. This came after Iran’s President died in a helicopter crash and the Saudi Crown Prince canceled his trip to Japan, citing health concerns regarding the King.
In the metals complex, gold is 0.9% higher at $2440.00/ounce.