Stock Market Today: Markets Rebound Ahead of Big Week for Earnings

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published 22 April 2024

Stocks rebounded sharply after last week's shellacking of equities, helped by easing geopolitical tensions and upcoming earnings reports from some of the market's biggest names.

At the close, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.7% at 38,240, while the broader S&P 500 added 0.9% to 5,010. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 1.1% to 15,451.

Monday's session marked a sharp reversal from last week's action, when the reality of higher-for-longer interest rates, some mixed quarterly results and rising upheaval in the Middle East sapped market participants' appetite for risk.

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"Much of the pressure across stocks last week, and really since the start of the month, has come from investors repricing the number of Federal Reserve rate cuts for this year," writes Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise.

Sticky inflation data, better-than-expected economic growth and heightened geopolitical tensions have "increased uncertainty into the soft-landing narrative that helped propel stocks higher in the first quarter," the strategist adds.

Tesla cuts prices, again

Shares in Tesla (TSLA) continued their slide Monday, closing down 3.4% on news the electric vehicle (EV) maker cut prices in major markets, including China and Germany. The company slashed prices by up to $2,000 on vehicles such as the Model 3 and Model Y amid waning demand and increased competition, Reuters reported.

Tesla, which reports earnings after Tuesday's close, has lost more than 40% of its value for the year-to-date, making it the worst-performing Magnificent 7 stock by a wide margin.

Verizon results disappoint

Verizon Communications (VZ) slumped 4.6% Monday after the company posted quarterly revenue growth that fell short of Wall Street estimates. The only telecom in the Dow Jones also said it lost a net 158,000 users in its consumer wireless postpaid phone business in the first three months of 2024.

VZ stock is back to levels last seen in January, and is lagging the broader market by about 10 percentage points over the past 52 weeks.

Inflation data, busy earnings week on deck

Several major events could cause choppy trading in the days ahead. Big Tech will be in focus in a big way, with several Mag 7 stocks on this week's earnings calendar.

Meanwhile, the economic calendar features the March Personal Consumption and Expenditures (PCE) Price Index. The data measures consumer spending and is the Fed's preferred inflation gauge. Other reports include March new home sales, March pending home sales and durable goods orders.

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Dan Burrows is Kiplinger's senior investing writer, having joined the publication full time in 2016.

A long-time financial journalist, Dan is a veteran of MarketWatch, CBS MoneyWatch, SmartMoney, InvestorPlace, DailyFinance and other tier 1 national publications. He has written for The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Consumer Reports and his stories have appeared in the New York Daily News, the San Jose Mercury News and Investor's Business Daily, among many other outlets. As a senior writer at AOL's DailyFinance, Dan reported market news from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Once upon a time – before his days as a financial reporter and assistant financial editor at legendary fashion trade paper Women's Wear Daily – Dan worked for Spy magazine, scribbled away at Time Inc. and contributed to Maxim magazine back when lad mags were a thing. He's also written for Esquire magazine's Dubious Achievements Awards.

In his current role at Kiplinger, Dan writes about markets and macroeconomics.

Dan holds a bachelor's degree from Oberlin College and a master's degree from Columbia University.

Disclosure: Dan does not trade individual stocks or securities. He is eternally long the U.S equity market, primarily through tax-advantaged accounts.