U.S. stocks rose on Monday morning following a major rebound last week from this year’s steep declines. Despite the bounce, Wall Street is preparing to wrap up the worst first half for stocks in decades.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.13%, or 40 points. The S&P 500 gained 0.23%, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.27%.
Those moves followed a major comeback week that saw the Dow industrials jump more than 800 points, or 2.7%. The S&P 500 popped 3.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite surged 3.3%.
Those gains helped the major averages post their first positive week since May. The Dow climbed 5.4% last week. The S&P 500 increased 6.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 7.5%.
The S&P 500 is up 7.5% since hitting a bear-market low in mid-June, although the benchmark is still off 19% from its high and 18% since the year began.
Market participants continued to assess whether stocks have found a bottom, or are instead just briefly rebounding from oversold conditions. Stocks could continue to get a lift in the near term this week, as investors rebalance their holdings for the quarter-end.
The market volatility isn’t over yet, however, UBS equity strategist Christopher Swann said in a note Monday.
“The concerns that caused the index to fall into bear market territory earlier in June have not gone away—including worries over the pace of rate rises, the threat of recession, and political risks,” he said. “While the most probable single scenario, in our view, would feature an economic soft landing and market stabilization, sentiment is likely to remain fickle, and this is not a market to position for any one scenario with high conviction.”
BioNTech shares advanced almost 3% after the drug maker said its Omicron-based Covid-19 booster generates an improved immune response against that variant.
Meanwhile, shares of Spirit Airlines fell about 5% after the company said it would accept the latest takeover bid from Frontier Group.
Nike will report earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter after the bell Monday, ahead of a handful of other key reporters this week including Bed Bath & Beyond, General Mills, Constellation Brands and Walgreens.
On the economic front, Wall Street is expecting the latest reading of durable goods orders to come out Monday before the bell.
Traders are also watching for the pending home sales report, which is expected at 10 a.m. ET on Monday.
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