Stocks rise hesitantly after a shaky start on Wall Street
By DAMIAN J. TROISE
AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks were moving tentatively higher on Wall Street Monday morning after shaking off a wobbly start. The uneven trading follows a brutal April in which widespread technology sell-offs dragged down major benchmarks.
The S&P 500 rose 0.6% as of 10:44 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 203 points, or 0.5%, to 33,170 and the Nasdaq rose 1%.
Communications and technology companies made solid gains and helped counter losses elsewhere in the market. Facebook’s parent, Meta, jumped 3.4% and Microsoft rose 1.3%.
The subdued start to May follows a dismal April, where Big Tech companies dragged the broader market lower as they started to look overpriced, particularly with interest rates set to rise sharply. Many companies in the sector have pricey stock values and therefore have more force in pushing the major indexes up or down.
U.S. crude oil prices fell 2.6%, though the reaction from energy stocks was mixed. European energy ministers are set to meet to discuss Russian supply issues and sanctions. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted a jump in already high oil and natural gas prices.
Bond yields rose significantly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 2.98% from 2.89% late Friday.
Treasury yields have been rising all year as investors prepare for higher interest rates. Markets are expecting an extra-large interest rate increase this week from the Federal Reserve as it tries to tame inflation, which is at its highest level in four decades.
The central bank is expected to raise short-term interest rates by double the usual amount when it releases its latest statement on Wednesday. It has already raised its key overnight rate once, the first such increase since 2018, and Wall Street is expecting several big increases over the coming months.
Rate hikes from the Fed will further increase borrowing costs across the board for people buying cars, using credit cards and taking out mortgages to buy homes. Investors have been concerned about rising inflation and its impact on businesses and consumers. But, they are also concerned about how the rate hikes will play out in fighting inflation and whether a more aggressive Fed could actually hurt economic growth.
Concerns about rising inflation have also been hanging over the latest round of corporate earnings. Disappointing results or outlooks from Apple, Google’s parent company and Amazon helped fuel the selling last week. Investors are reviewing the latest results and statements to gauge just how heavily rising costs have impacted operations and whether price hikes have hampered sales.
Wall Street is in for another busy week of earnings reports. Expedia and Clorox are among the many companies reporting their results later Monday. Pfizer reports results on Tuesday, CVS Health reports results on Wednesday, and Kellogg reports results on Thursday.
