Stock market today: Tech rally leads stocks higher as oil prices plunge and earnings kick off
- Stocks bounced back from Monday's losing session as oil dropped and tech stocks surged.
- Earnings season kicked off Tuesday, and major banks are scheduled to report on Friday.
US stocks rebounded on Tuesday after Monday's losses, with momentum revived by a tech rally and falling crude prices.
The Magnificent 7 tech cohort led the market higher, with Nvidia at the forefront. The AI chipmaker climbed 4% on Tuesday, while Meta, Tesla, and Microsoft all traded more than 1% higher.
The surge in oil prices that pressured stocks on Monday, meanwhile, retraced, with international and US crude prices falling more than 4%. Energy traders pulled back on Monday as they continued to await retaliation from Israel over Iran's missile barrage last week, while a disappointing stimulus update in China weighed on the outlook for oil demand.
In the US, Wall Street is keeping an eye on the upcoming consumer price index report for September. The inflation data will publish on Thursday, and will inform investors what to expect from the Federal Reserve's next policy meeting in November.
Though the market had been anticipating another half-point interest rate cut next month, last Friday's big jobs report erased those forecasts. Bank of America expects any upside surprise in the inflation data may keep rates higher for longer.
At the same time, Fed officials have cited optimistic expectations for rate cuts to continue. On Monday, New York Fed president John Williams told the Financial Times that a quarter-point cut is a "very good base case."
Economists project consumer inflation for September to come in at 2.3% year-over-year, down from 2.5% in August.
Tuesday's session also marked the start of earnings season. In a new report, BofA noted that the bar for third-quarter earnings is low, adding that investors will likely reward firms as long as they express confidence about lower rates.
Major US financial firms, including JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, and BlackRock, report results on Friday.
Among Tuesday's notable movers was Roblox, which briefly fell nearly 10% in intraday trading, after short-seller Hindenburg Research took aim at the gaming platform.
Meanwhile, China's sharp equity rally showed signs of slowing down. Beijing's failure to announce new stimulus plans on Tuesday has disappointed investors.
Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. closing bell on Tuesday:
- S&P 500: 5,751.16, up 0.97%
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: 42,080.37, up 0.3% (+126.13 points)
- Nasdaq composite: 18,182.92, up 1.45%
Here's what else is going on:
- Energy traders bet Hurricane Milton will spark power outages and leave power plants idling in Florida.
- Russia's economy can withstand pressure for several more years but will eventually face an "unsolvable trilemma," an expert says.
- Rate cuts were supposed to ease mortgage rates. Here's why the opposite happened.
- China's stimulus won't stop its GDP decline next year, the World Bank says.
- Roblox, DraftKings, or Icahn Enterprises: here are the biggest calls made by short-seller Hindenberg Research.
- Meme coins tied to the identity of bitcoin's inventor have rallied ahead of a new documentary that could reveal their identity
In commodities, bonds, and crypto:
- West Texas Intermediate crude sank 4.1% to $73.92 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, tumbled 4.1% to $77.57 a barrel.
- Gold fell 0.9% to $2,641 an ounce.
- The 10-year Treasury yield was nearly flat at 4.018%.
- Bitcoin dropped by 1.7% to $62,226.