Stock Market Today: Stocks Slip With Inflation Data in Focus
Amazon closed lower on its first day as a Dow Jones stock.
Stocks opened higher Monday but ran out of steam as the session wore on. There are plenty of notable companies on this week's earnings calendar, including tech giant Salesforce (CRM, +2.6%). But the bulk of attention will be centered on a busy economic calendar that includes Thursday's key inflation update.
"While many traders will be watching durable goods orders and the first revision to fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP), Thursday's Personal Consumption and Expenditures (PCE) Price Index may get more attention than usual," says Chris Larkin, managing director of trading and investing at E*TRADE from Morgan Stanley.
This data point "often flies under the radar," Larkin notes, but following recent hotter-than-expected inflation readings, "more people may be looking to the PCE for insight into the reinflation threat, and how it may influence the Fed's timing of rate cuts."
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.
FTC sues to block Kroger's buyout of Albertsons
In single-stock news, Amazon.com (AMZN) shed 0.2% on its first day as a Dow Jones stock. The e-commerce giant replaced Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA, -3.4%) as a member of the 30-component index ahead of today's open. Dan Burrows, senior investing writer at Kiplinger.com, explains why this matters here.
Kroger (KR) was another notable mover Monday, slipping 2.0% on news the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is suing to block its $25 billion buyout of fellow grocery chain Albertsons (ACI, +0.6%). The FTC lawsuit says the deal will create higher food prices for consumers and lower wages for employees.
"Kroger's acquisition of Albertsons would lead to additional grocery price hikes for everyday goods, further exacerbating the financial strain consumers across the country face today," said Henry Liu, director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition. "Essential grocery store workers would also suffer under this deal, facing the threat of their wages dwindling, benefits diminishing, and their working conditions deteriorating."
Berkshire ends Q4 with $167 billion in cash
Elsewhere, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) fell 1.9% after Warren Buffett's holding company released its fourth-quarter earnings report over the weekend. Berkshire beat analysts' per-share earnings estimates for the three-month period. The report also showed BRK.B bought back $2.2 billion in stock in Q4 – and $9.2 billion for all of 2023.
Additionally, the company ended the period with cash and equivalents totaling $167.6 billion. This staggering figure – equivalent to the market caps of blue chip stocks International Business Machines (IBM, -0.9%) or Verizon Communications (VZ, -2.4%) – has many wondering what Berkshire plans to do with all this cash? It seems nothing … for now.
"There remain only a handful of companies in this country capable of truly moving the needle at Berkshire, and they have been endlessly picked over by us and by others," wrote Buffett in his letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders. "Some we can value; some we can't. And, if we can, they have to be attractively priced. Outside the U.S., there are essentially no candidates that are meaningful options for capital deployment at Berkshire. All in all, we have no possibility of eye-popping performance."
As for the main indexes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% to 39,069, the S&P 500 gave back 0.4% to 5,069, and the Nasdaq Composite finished down 0.1% at 15,976.
Related content
To continue reading this article
please register for free
This is different from signing in to your print subscription
Why am I seeing this? Find out more here
With over a decade of experience writing about the stock market, Karee Venema is the senior investing editor at Kiplinger.com. She joined the publication in April 2021 after 10 years of working as an investing writer and columnist at Schaeffer's Investment Research. In her previous role, Karee focused primarily on options trading, as well as technical, fundamental and sentiment analysis.
-
Earn Delta SkyMiles Worth Up to $1,800 with an AMEX Business Card
Delta SkyMiles and American Express offer 150,000 on business credit card for new cardholders.
By Ellen Kennedy Published
-
Stock Market Today: Markets Soar Amid Strong Earnings for Big Tech
Equities ended the week on an up note thanks to some of the market's biggest names.
By Dan Burrows Published
-
Stock Market Today: Markets Soar Amid Strong Earnings for Big Tech
Equities ended the week on an up note thanks to some of the market's biggest names.
By Dan Burrows Published
-
Stock Market Today: Markets Tumble Amid Slower Economic Growth and Rising Prices
Disappointing readings on GDP and inflation helped tank equities.
By Dan Burrows Published
-
DraftKings Is a Top Analyst Pick Ahead of NFL Draft. Here's Why
DraftKings has posted a strong performance in 2024 but analysts think there is more upside for the stock. Here’s what you need to know.
By Joey Solitro Published
-
Meta Stock Slides as AI Spending Ramps Up: What To Know
Meta stock plunged after the Facebook parent increased spending on artificial intelligence and the metaverse.
By Joey Solitro Last updated
-
Stock Market Today: Stocks Run Out of Steam Ahead of Meta Earnings
The Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped a four-day winning streak after Boeing's first-quarter results.
By Karee Venema Published
-
TikTok Ban Passes Ahead of Meta Earnings: What To Know
Lawmakers voted in favor of banning social media platform TikTok just ahead of rival Meta Platforms' earnings report.
By Joey Solitro Published
-
Why Tesla Stock Is Soaring After a Q1 Earnings Miss
Tesla came up short of analysts' expectations for its first quarter, yet its stock is roaring higher today. Here's why.
By Joey Solitro Published
-
Stock Market Today: Nasdaq Soars Ahead of Tesla Earnings
The EV stock rose nearly 2% ahead of its highly anticipated Q1 earnings report, due after tonight's close.
By Karee Venema Published