U.S. stocks were lower Monday afternoon as investors returned from a three-day weekend to digest strong jobs data released on Good Friday, when markets were closed, and looked ahead to another busy week for data and the start of first-quarter earnings season.
How are stocks trading?
-
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
+0.02%
slipped 57 points, or 0.2%, to 33,428 after flipping between small gains and losses. -
The S&P 500
SPX,
-0.41%
was down 27 points, or 0.7%, at 4,078. -
The Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
-0.70%
shed 122 points, or 1%, to trade at 11,966.
What’s driving the markets?
Data released on Friday showed the U.S. added 236,000 new jobs in March, undercutting any hopes among Federal Reserve policy makers for a big slowdown in hiring and possibly opening the door to another interest-rate hike in May. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had predicted 238,000 new jobs would be created. The unemployment rate edged down to 3.5% from 3.6% and hourly wages rose a mild 0.3%.
Hopes that the Fed’s rate-hiking program was nearing an end have helped interest-rate sensitive tech stocks gain 15% year to date, outperforming an almost 7% rise for the S&P 500 and a 1% gain for the Dow industrials, through last Thursday.
More economic updates are on the way this week, but the biggest focus will be on Wednesday’s consumer-price data for March, producer prices on Thursday and retail sales on Friday.
“With Wall Street and Main Street all on high alert for this week’s release of March inflation data and the kick off to first-quarter earnings season, volatility and uncertainty remain the leading market narrative as investors look to hang their hats on any signs of economic normalcy not seen in a while due to the combination of ongoing mixed economic data, Fed policy uncertainties, an inconsistent corporate earnings outlook, and ongoing geopolitical tensions, such as with Russia and China,” said Greg Bassuk, CEO of AXS Investments, in emailed comments.
On Friday, some of the biggest Wall Street banks will mark the start of first-quarter earnings season, and the recent banking crisis has some analysts nervous about what to expect from those institutions. JPMorgan Chase
JPM,
Citigroup
C,
and Wells Fargo
WFC,
are among the big names expected to report.
“This earnings season may have added significance as most may parse statements for signs of an economic slowdown while assessing how companies have navigated the headwinds of higher rates, shrinking margins, banking system stress and slowing demand,” said Kent Engelke, chief economic strategist at Capitol Securities Management, in a note.
Read: Banks on the line for deposit flows and margin pressure in Q1 updates as they reel from banking crisis
Geopolitical concerns were also on the radar, analysts said. On Monday, China’s military said it is “ready to fight” after completing three days of large-scale combat exercises around Taiwan that simulated sealing off the island in response to the Taiwanese president’s trip to the U.S. last week, the Associated Press reported.
Companies in focus
-
Shares of electric-vehicle maker Tesla Inc.
TSLA,
-1.67%
fell 1.6%, on track for a fifth straight decline, after data showed growth in automobile sales in China slowed sharply in March. -
Shares of Micron Technology Inc.
MU,
+8.10%
rose 8%, as production cuts announced by rival Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
005930,
+1.08%
provided a boost. -
Shares of Tupperware Brands Corp.
TUP,
-47.52%
plunged 44.8% after the food storage products maker issued a going-concern warning late Friday, saying it had hired financial advisers to help steer it through near-term challenges.
— Barbara Kollmeyer contributed to this article.
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