Wall Street kicked off the week on a positive note, with investor focus squarely on corporate earnings. The S&P 500 edged 0.14% higher to close at 6,305.60, the first time it has finished above the 6,300 mark. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.38% to a record 20,974.17, while the Dow Jones slipped just 19 points to 44,323.07.
Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit new intraday highs during the session, buoyed by gains in big-name tech stocks including Meta, Amazon, and Alphabet.
Earnings season off to strong start
So far, 62 S&P 500 companies have reported second-quarter results, with more than 85% beating expectations, according to FactSet. Verizon jumped 4% after topping forecasts, while Alphabet rose more than 2% ahead of its results due Wednesday. Tesla, which also reports this week, ended marginally lower.
Bank of America estimates that S&P 500 earnings are currently tracking 5% year-over-year growth. FactSet analyst John Butters sees the “Magnificent Seven” tech giants driving much of that, forecasting 14% earnings growth for that group compared to just 3.4% for the rest of the index. Veteran strategist Ed Yardeni expects earnings growth could reach 8% once all results are in.
Commodities and currencies
Bitcoin briefly fell below US$117,000 before settling down 0.7% at US$117,212. Gold climbed 1.4% to US$3,397.05 an ounce, while Brent crude dipped 0.4% to US$69 a barrel. Iron ore rallied 3.1% to US$103.90 a tonne. The Australian dollar rose to US65.24¢.
Local outlook
SPI 200 futures are pointing to a modestly higher open, up 12 points to 8,660, as the Wall Street rally lost momentum late in the session. Investors will be watching for the Reserve Bank’s meeting minutes due at 11:30am AEST.
