The Buzz on Business for Tuesday, February 5, 2024

Like the rock star he is, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell went on 60 Minutes on Sunday night and put the kibosh on the possibility of a rate cut in March. Or May. Stocks were down; rates were up, on the news. But, on light volume, as the markets await some good earnings news to drive stocks higher.

Stock Market Report

Stocks sold off on Monday, but given that the rally is in its fifth month and has seen the indexes rise more than 15%, I'd say we were due—overdue—for a bit of a sell-off.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 274 points, that’s seven-tenths of a percent, and closed at 38,380.
• The S&P 500 was off three-tenths. That's a loss of 16 points, and they closed at 4,943.
• The NASDAQ Composite tried to squeak out a gain on the day but fell just short. The techs were off 31 points. Just two-tenths of a percent and closed at 15,598.
• The Small Cap Russell 2000 was off 1.2%, that's 22 points and they closed at 1935.
• The RSP, that's the equal weight S&P 500 index, was off nine-tenths of a percent
• But in a bright spot on an otherwise dark day, the SOXL, that's the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index with three-to-one leverage, was up 4.3% on the session.

Bond Market Report

As you might expect, rates were up on Chairman Powell's comments Sunday night.

• The yield on the 2-year treasury closed at 4.474%. That was up ten basis points.
• The 20-year closed at 4.454%. Up 12 ticks.

Oil, Gold, and Bitcoin

• Oil sold off pretty hard at the open but rallied back throughout the day. It closed with a small gain of $0.43, and a barrel will now set you back $72.74.
• Rates went up, so I guess that means gold goes down. It did. It was off $12.30, and a troy ounce now changes hands at $2041.40.
• Bitcoin was also off on the day. It closed at $42,406 off $289.

Fourth Quarter Earnings Season Heats Up: McDonald’s Misses, Stocks Trends Down

Thirteen companies reported earnings on Monday, only two red numbers on the Giant Quote Machine. McDonald's exceeded expectations for earnings but missed on revenue. Wall Street was expecting revenues of $6.45 billion, but they came in at $6.41 billion in the fourth quarter. The stock sold off a bit as a result.

Thirty-four public companies report earnings during the day today. None are likely to move the markets on their own.

Not much to report from the earnings calendar either. Until Thursday, that is, when the labor market complex gets released. Traders may be waiting a little bit longer to find a reason to drive stocks higher.