FX168 Financial News (North America) #美股收评 #周一 (October 28), the stock market rose because investors expected the profits of a number of large technology stocks to continue to drive the Nasdaq Composite Index to rise.

The S&P 500 index rose 0.27% to close at 5823.52 points; the Dow Jones index closed up 273.17 points, or 0.65%, to 42387.57 points; and the NASDAQ closed up 0.26% to 18567.19 points.

(Source: FX168)

(Source: FX168)

Economic data

This week is the busiest week of the third-quarter earnings season, and the last week before the US presidential election on November 5 and the Federal Reserve's policy decision on November 7.

Traders are watching this week's series of key economic data, including the preliminary GDP for the third quarter released on Wednesday, the September personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index expected to be released on Thursday, and the October employment report released on Friday.

The US employment report, which is due to be released on Friday, may eventually become the focus of market attention, even more important than the profit reports of big tech companies. Investors want to see more solid evidence of recruitment to keep the economy hopeful of a perfect landing.

This kind of data has replaced inflation reports. The inflation report used to be Wall Street's most important monthly report, but as inflation appears to be moving towards the Federal Reserve's 2% target, the importance of the inflation report has waned.

US elections

Financial markets are also coping with fluctuations during the US presidential election. Election day will arrive quickly in two Tuesdays. Historically, the market was always in turmoil before a general election, but no matter which party wins, it calms down after the election is over.

Yields also rose as investors saw an increase in the chances of former President Donald Trump being re-elected. Economists say Trump's victory may help push up inflation in the long term, and worsening inflation may prompt the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates.

Corporate financial report

Five of the tech giants — Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Amazon, and Apple — plan to release their latest earnings this week.

Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon experienced a slump in the summer due to concerns that stock prices would rise too fast relative to profits, and now they are under pressure to achieve greater growth.

Mike Dickson (Mike Dickson), head of research and quantitative strategy at Horizon Investments, said: “Given the high overall valuation, people will be watching closely to see if they can continue to achieve these growth figures.”

Geopolitical crisis

Israel's air raids on Iran over the weekend did not target oil or nuclear facilities as people feared. US crude oil futures and international benchmark Brent crude futures both fell 6%.

The rise in big tech stocks on Monday offset the fall in oil and gas sector stocks, which were affected by falling oil prices. ExxonMobil fell 0.5% and ConocoPhillips fell 1.2%.

This is the first time that the two major crude oil futures have been traded since Israel attacked Iranian military targets on Saturday in retaliation for an earlier ballistic missile attack. The Israeli attack was more restrained than some investors feared, leading people to hope that the worst might be avoided.

In addition to the violent incidents that have caused human casualties, financial markets are also worried that the escalating war in the Middle East may cut off the supply of crude oil to Iran, a major oil producer. Despite signs that the global economy has sufficient oil supplies, this concern caused the price of Brent crude oil to rise to nearly $81 per barrel in early October. Since then, the price of Brent crude oil has fallen back below $72.

The bond market

In the bond market, US Treasury yields rose slightly, building on the sharp rise so far this month.

The 10-year US Treasury yield rose to 4.24% late last Friday to 4.28%. This is well above the 3.70% level in early October.

As reports after report showed that the US economy was still stronger than expected, so did yields. This is good news for Wall Street, as it strengthens hopes that the US economy can escape the worst inflation in generations without the inevitable painful recession that many fear.

But this has also forced traders to lower their predictions on how much the Fed will cut interest rates, because the Fed is now focusing on maintaining economic prosperity rather than reducing inflation. As bets on how much the Federal Reserve will eventually cut interest rates declined, US Treasury yields have also retreated some of their earlier declines.

Individual stocks in focus

Trump Media & Technology Group (Trump Media & Technology Group) shares rose 21.6% to $47.36 on Monday. The company's stock price is often influenced more by Trump's chances of re-election than by its own profit prospects. The parent company of Trump's truth social networking platform has been rising since it hit a bottom of about $12 at the end of September, although the current stock price is still far below the high of $60 hit in March.

Robinhood Markets rose 3% after the company said it would begin allowing some customers to trade contracts based on their predictions about whether Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris will win the 2024 election.

Delta's stock price rose 2.3% after suing CrowdStrike. Delta claims the cybersecurity company cut corners and caused global technical failures, which led to the cancellation of thousands of flights in July.