Stock Market Today: Stocks Sag on Sleepy Monday (But the Alarm Is Set)
The Dow declined on a low-volume Monday, but the start of Q1 earnings season and the Coinbase offering should spice things up later this week.
The market stumbled out of the blocks this week, with the major indexes all logging modest declines on a Monday that was low on trading volume and slow on broader macro news.
Consider it the calm before the (potentially fruitful) storm.
The first-quarter earnings season kicks off in earnest later this week, and it could be a big one.
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free E-Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
"The outstanding fourth-quarter earnings season we had in 2020 is a tough act to follow, but 2021's first quarter has the makings of another potentially great earnings season," say LPL Financial strategists Jeffrey Buchbinder and Ryan Detrick. "The reopening of the economy continues to move forward, and corporate America has done an excellent job managing through the pandemic. In fact, it won't take much of an upside surprise for year-over-year S&P 500 Index earnings growth to reach 30% this quarter."
For today, however, declines in the energy (-0.8%) and technology (-0.5%) sectors weighed on the wider market, including a 0.2% loss for the Dow, which closed at 33,745.
Other action in the stock market today:
- The S&P 500 finished marginally lower to 4,127.
- The Nasdaq Composite declined 0.4% to 13,850.
- The small-cap Russell 2000 also fell 0.4% to finish at 2,233.
- U.S. crude oil futures started the week higher, adding 38 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $59.70 per barrel.
- Gold futures fell $12.10, or 0.7%, to close at $1,732.70 an ounce.
- The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) jumped 2.2% to 17.05.
Where the Market's Making Sparks
But even on a yawner like Monday, there's plenty for investors to pay attention to.
For instance, Microsoft (MSFT, up marginally) advanced further into the health technology space by announcing a $16 billion all-cash deal for speech-recognition software company Nuance Communications (NUAN, +16.0%).
And an already firework-filled 2021 for semiconductor stocks became even more electric as Nvidia (NVDA, +5.6%) announced its first server CPUs – another shot across the bow of competitor Intel (INTC, -4.2%). The firm also says Q1 revenues are tracking above the $5.3 billion outlook it previously provided.
Also, a number of digital currencies headed higher ahead of Wednesday's public-market debut of Coinbase, which allows investors to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. That includes bitcoin, which at $60,068 is hovering near its all-time high of $61,712 set in March.
The offering is expected to further bolster individual and institutional interest – a key potential driver of bitcoin prices that we highlighted in our annual outlook.
If you want to learn more ahead of what should be a busy week not just for stocks, but for digital currencies, check out our primer that answers common questions about bitcoin. Or, have a listen to our recent conversation with Onramp Invest CEO Tyrone Ross, who provides his expert insight into what bitcoin can be for investors and consumers alike.
Disclaimer
Kyle Woodley was long NVDA as of this writing.
Kyle Woodley is the Editor-in-Chief of WealthUp, a site dedicated to improving the personal finances and financial literacy of people of all ages. He also writes the weekly The Weekend Tea newsletter, which covers both news and analysis about spending, saving, investing, the economy and more.
Kyle was previously the Senior Investing Editor for Kiplinger.com, and the Managing Editor for InvestorPlace.com before that. His work has appeared in several outlets, including Yahoo! Finance, MSN Money, Barchart, The Globe & Mail and the Nasdaq. He also has appeared as a guest on Fox Business Network and Money Radio, among other shows and podcasts, and he has been quoted in several outlets, including MarketWatch, Vice and Univision. He is a proud graduate of The Ohio State University, where he earned a BA in journalism.
You can check out his thoughts on the markets (and more) at @KyleWoodley.
-
Donald Trump's Net Worth Hits $6.5 Billion, Despite Legal Woes
Boosted by Truth Social stock deal, Trump is thrust into the world’s wealthiest 500 people on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index
By Kathryn Pomroy Published
-
Stock Market Today: Dow Outperforms as Merck Hits New High
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped three-day losing streaks as drugmaker Merck rallied.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Dow Outperforms as Merck Hits New High
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped three-day losing streaks as drugmaker Merck rallied.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: S&P 500, Dow Extend Losing Streaks
Reddit stock continued to charge higher and has now nearly doubled in price since last week's IPO.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Bitcoin, Boeing Shine as Stocks Slip
Digital World Acquisition sizzled, too, ahead of its merger with Trump Media & Technology Group.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Dow Retreats After Nike Earnings
The Nasdaq Composite managed to notch a new record close Friday, building on the week's impressive gains.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Hit New Highs as Rate-Cut Momentum Continues
Reddit sizzled in its market debut, while Apple slumped after the tech giant was slapped with an antitrust lawsuit.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Climb After Fed Forecasts Three Rate Cuts This Year
The main indexes notched new record closes Wednesday after the Federal Reserve kept its outlook for rate cuts unchanged.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Close Higher After Nvidia's Reversal
The main indexes erased early losses Tuesday as mega-cap tech stock Nvidia swung higher.
By Karee Venema Published
-
Stock Market Today: Nasdaq Soars on Strength in Magnificent 7 Stocks
The main indexes started the week strong after several mega-cap stocks rallied.
By Karee Venema Published