US STOCKS-Stocks climb as megacaps lead; inflation data, earnings on deck

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10/01/2024 21:39

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      Nvidia rises after TSMC's Q4 revenue beat 
    

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      Boeing bounces after two-day slump
    

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      US SEC says bitcoin ETFs not yet approved, crypto stocks
slip 
    

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      Indexes up: Dow 0.45%, S&P 0.57%, Nasdaq 0.75% 
    

  
 (Updated at 4:22 p.m. ET/2122 GMT)
    By Chuck Mikolajczak
       NEW YORK, Jan 10 (Reuters) - 
    U.S. stocks closed higher on Wednesday as megacaps rallied,
but gains were limited ahead of inflation reports and major bank
earnings later in the week.
    Microsoft  MSFT.O , Meta Platforms  META.O  and Nvidia
 NVDA.O  were the biggest boosts to the S&P 500 index, as the
benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield  US10YT=RR  held near
4%and a $37 billion auction of the notes drew above-average
demand.
        Communication services  .SPLRCL  was the best performing
of the 11 major S&P sectors, lifted by a 3.65% rise in Meta
Platforms'  META.O  stock, which hit its highest intraday level
since September 2021, after Mizuho 
    raised its price target
     to $470 from $400.
  
    Nvidia  NVDA.O  hit a record high and closed up 2.28% after
fellow chipmaker TSMC  2330.TW  beat fourth-quarter revenue
expectations.
    After ending 2023 with a strong rally, stocks have struggled
to find upward momentum, with the S&P 500 barely positive on the
year, as mixed economic data and comments from Federal Reserve
officials have led investors to dial back expectations for the
timing and size of any rate cuts from the central bank this
year. But Wednesday's gains left the index just 0.27% away from
its record close of 4,796.56 set on Jan. 3, 2022. 
    "What the market is doing, it's reassessing its 2024
expectations in terms of earnings and in terms of interest
rates, and really looking to justify the surge in prices that we
saw in November and December," said Sam Stovall, chief
investment strategist at CFRA Research in New York.  
        "It's sort of a good sign that the market is treading
water early in the year because it implies that investors really
don't want to miss out on anything else that could be good."
  
        The Dow Jones Industrial Average  .DJI  rose 170.57
points, or 0.45%, to 37,695.73. The S&P 500  .SPX  gained 26.95
points, or 0.57 %, at 4,783.45 and the Nasdaq Composite  .IXIC 
advanced  111.94 points, or 0.75 %, to 14,969.65. 
    The focus will turn to the December consumer and producer
inflation reports, due on Thursday and Friday, respectively,
which could help determine the monetary policy path for the
central bank.
    Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams
said on Wednesday it is still too soon to call for rate cuts as
the central bank still has some distance to go on getting
inflation back to its 2% target.
    Market participants have scaled back expectations to a 67.6%
chance for at least a 25-basis-point rate cut in March,
according to CME's FedWatch Tool.
    On Friday, banking giants JPMorgan Chase  JPM.N , Bank of
America  BAC.N , Citigroup  C.N  and Wells Fargo  WFC.N  are
expected to report lower fourth-quarter profits.
    Crypto stocks were mostly lower, with Coinbase  COIN.O ,
down 0.46% and Riot Platforms  RIOT.O  off 1.21%, after the U.S.
securities regulator said a hacked social media message was
posted on its account regarding the eagerly awaited approval of
exchange traded funds (ETFs).
    The stocks barely reacted to a CBOE notice that several spot
bitcoin ETFs from multiple asset managers were approved. 
    Boeing  BA.N  rose 0.92% following a 9.3% tumble in the
prior two sessions, after CEO Dave Calhoun acknowledged errors
by the U.S. planemaker as more than 170 jets remained grounded
for a fourth day.
    DocGo  DCGO.O  plunged 37.58% after Fuzzy Panda Research
revealed a short position on the health services company's
stock.
    Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.4-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE while advancers equaled decliners on a 1-to-1 ratio
on the Nasdaq.
        The S&P index recorded 31 new 52-week highs and one new
low, while the Nasdaq recorded 108 new highs and 97 new lows.
  
        Volume on U.S. exchanges was 9.81 billion shares,
compared with the 12.22 billion average for the full session
over the last 20 trading days.
  
    

 (Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Richard Chang)
 ((charles.mikolajczak@tr.com; @ChuckMik;))