U.S. stocks surged as investors anticipated major earnings reports on Monday, Oct. 14. The S&P 500 gained 0.8%, marking a 23.6% year-to-date increase. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced by 0.9%, reflecting a 25.3% YTD gain. Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury yields remained steady at 4.1%, while oil prices dropped by 4.8% to $71.86 per barrel.
On Tuesday, big banks including Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Bank of America released earnings that exceeded expectations. Following this, the S&P 500 fell by 0.8%, the Dow dropped by 0.8%, and the Nasdaq declined by 1%. U.S. Treasury yields fell by 6.6 basis points, settling at 4%.
Wednesday saw U.S. stocks rise as investors continued to evaluate corporate earnings reports, expressing optimism about companies’ financial performance. The S&P 500 rose by 0.5%, the Dow increased by 0.8%, and the Nasdaq gained 0.3%. U.S. Treasury yields fell by 1.6 basis points, while oil prices dropped by 0.5%. Australia’s ASX 200 also reached an all-time high, reflecting global market optimism.
U.S. stocks were stagnant on Thursday. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed flat, while the Dow rose by 0.4%. U.S. Treasury yields increased by 7.8 basis points, suggesting that investors are still pricing in uncertainty around the Federal Reserve’s future interest rate decisions. With 42 basis points of cuts anticipated over the next two Fed meetings, some investors appeared hesitant amid concerns over inflation and hawkish signals from the Fed.
On Friday, the Atlanta Federal Reserve released an updated reading of its GDPNow model, which provides real-time estimates of gross domestic product growth. The accuracy of this “nowcast” improves as more economic data becomes available throughout the quarter. The model predicts that the economy will grow by approximately 3.4% in the third quarter.
Markets closed the week in the green, with the S&P 500 gaining 0.4%, the Nasdaq increasing by 0.6%, and the Dow advancing by 0.1%.
Throughout the week, U.S. markets fluctuated due to rising Treasury yields, inflation concerns, and geopolitical tensions. Despite mid-week losses, optimism around corporate earnings and potential Fed rate cuts helped stocks rebound, with major indices ending in positive territory.