Dow Rises, Alibaba Stock and Oil Prices Fly—and What Else Is Happening in the Stock Market Today
Monday is expected to be quiet on Wall Street amid the Columbus Day holiday.
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
The stock market was higher on Monday, as commodity prices and global bond yields jumped.
Shortly after the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 65 points, or 0.2%, after the index slipped 8 points Friday to close at 34,746. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were both up 0.2%.
“Energy prices are all rallying again and that’s increasing global inflation anxiety, which is weighing moderately on futures,” wrote Tom Essaye, founder of Sevens Report Research.
Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, rose 1.6% to nearly $84 a barrel, with WTI crude oil up 1.9% to almost $81 a barrel. Natural gas prices rose more than 3%.
Higher oil and gas prices could be costly for some companies, but could also reduce consumer demand. Meanwhile, they could prompt the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates earlier than anticipated in order to stop inflation.
Global bond yields were also rising. The U.K. 10-year Gilt’s yield rose to 1.21% from 1.16% Friday. The German 10-year Bund saw its yield pop to negative 0.116% from negative 0.148%. While the U.S. bond market is closed for Columbus day, these jumps in yields could signify U.S. Treasury yields are bound to pop this week.
That’s one factor weighing on technology stocks. Higher bond yields make future profits less valuable—and many fast-growing tech companies are expecting large profits well into the future.
Elsewhere, investors will closely watch the wave of coming corporate earnings for the impact of rising energy prices and supply-chain complications, but the first major groups to release results are the big banks.
Bank of America (ticker: BAC), Citigroup (C), Wells Fargo (WFC), Morgan Stanley (MS), and Goldman Sachs (GS) all report this week, and analysts noted that their outlooks for 2022 are likely to be more influential for stocks than the economic data releases on the calendar.
Minutes from the latest meeting of the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee—the central bank’s monetary policy body—will also grab attention, as the Fed considers slowing, or tapering, its program of monthly asset purchases. Most expect the Fed to announce a taper in November.
Overseas, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.6% as investor sentiment was buoyed by comments from the new prime minister, Fumio Kishida, that he isn’t considering changes to Japanese capital-gains tax. The pan-European Stoxx 600 was 0.3% lower.
Here are 11 stocks on the move Monday:
Oil stocks surged as the price of oil did the same. Occidental Petroleum (OXY), Marathon Oil (MRO) and Devon Energy (DVN) all saw shares rise roughly 2%.
Zoom Video Communications (ZM) stock fell 0.2% after getting a price target cut to $300 from $350 at Stifel.
Comcast (CMCSA) stock dropped 1.4% after getting downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Raymond James.
Emerson Electric (EMR) stock fell 2.9% as the company plans to merge its software business with Aspen Technology (AZPN) in an $11 billion cash and stock deal.
Alibaba (9988.H.K.) stock rose 7.9% in Hong Kong, with Alibaba
‘s (BABA) U.S.-listed shares up 4.7%. It rallied along with other Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong, as Tencent (0700.H.K.) lifted 3%, Meituan (3690.H.K.) surged 8.4%, Baidu (BIDU) rose 6.4%, and JD.com (JD) increased 5.4%.
Write to Jacob Sonenshine at [email protected]
