US stocks eye fresh record highs as earnings season heats up

• US stocks edged higher on Monday to hit new record highs as earnings season gets underway.
• There are 75 S&P 500 companies set to report earnings this week, including Tesla and Netflix.
• Investors will turn their attention to the economic data later this week with the release of Q4 GDP.

US stocks jumped on Monday to new record highs, extending their gain from last week as the fourth-quarter earnings season gets underway.

There are 75 S&P 500 companies scheduled to report fourth-quarter results this week, including Tesla and Netflix.

With 10% of the S&P 500 having reported earnings so far, 65% are beating profit estimates with a median gain of 6%, according to data from Fundstrat. Meanwhile, 62% of those companies beat revenue estimates by a median of 2%.

Investors will turn their attention to economic data later this week with the release of fourth-quarter GDP growth, which should help inform when the Federal Reserve might get started with interest rate cuts this year.

Here's where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. opening bell on Monday:

• S&P 500: 4,856.52, up 0.37%

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 37,978.66, up 0.34% (+127.31 points)

• Nasdaq Composite: 15,416.28, up 0.71%

Here's what else is going on today:

• China's stock market has lost $6.3 trillion in value since 2021, and there are no signs of a recovery underway as 2024 gets off to a rocky start.
• The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index has plunged 14% so far this year and is trading near its lowest level since 2013.
• Buying a diamond is set to get a lot more expensive due to increased demand and lingering supply disruptions from the pandemic.
• The inventor of the market's most famous recession indicator is confident the inverted yield curve is accurately calling a slowdown in 2024.

In commodities, bonds, and crypto:

• West Texas Intermediate crude oil jumped 0.81% to $73.84 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, climbed 0.73% to $79.13 a barrel.
• Gold fell 0.21% to $2,025.10 per ounce.
• The 10-year Treasury yield dropped four basis points to 4.09%.
• Bitcoin declined by 2.15% to $40,677.