Stock Market Today: Stocks Struggle Ahead of PPI, Powell Speech
While the main indexes were relatively quiet Monday, GameStop made a lot of noise as it reclaimed its meme-stock status.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Delivered daily
Kiplinger Today
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more delivered daily. Smart money moves start here.
Sent five days a week
Kiplinger A Step Ahead
Get practical help to make better financial decisions in your everyday life, from spending to savings on top deals.
Delivered daily
Kiplinger Closing Bell
Get today's biggest financial and investing headlines delivered to your inbox every day the U.S. stock market is open.
Sent twice a week
Kiplinger Adviser Intel
Financial pros across the country share best practices and fresh tactics to preserve and grow your wealth.
Delivered weekly
Kiplinger Tax Tips
Trim your federal and state tax bills with practical tax-planning and tax-cutting strategies.
Sent twice a week
Kiplinger Retirement Tips
Your twice-a-week guide to planning and enjoying a financially secure and richly rewarding retirement
Sent bimonthly.
Kiplinger Adviser Angle
Insights for advisers, wealth managers and other financial professionals.
Sent twice a week
Kiplinger Investing Weekly
Your twice-a-week roundup of promising stocks, funds, companies and industries you should consider, ones you should avoid, and why.
Sent weekly for six weeks
Kiplinger Invest for Retirement
Your step-by-step six-part series on how to invest for retirement, from devising a successful strategy to exactly which investments to choose.
Stocks were choppy Monday as investors looked ahead to a busy week of economic news. In addition to an appearance from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, investors will get key inflation updates, starting with tomorrow morning's release of the Producer Price Index.
Recent hotter-than-expected economic reports have pushed back expectations on the Fed's rate-cut plans. However, last Friday's weak jobs report was just the sort of bad-news-is-good-news data investors were looking for.
Deutsche Bank economists think Tuesday morning's inflation print will show slight month-to-month increases in both headline PPI and core PPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices. The data will also give Powell the first look at April inflation numbers before tomorrow's mid-morning speech.
From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance
Become a smarter, better informed investor. Subscribe from just $107.88 $24.99, plus get up to 4 Special Issues
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free 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.
No matter the results, the Deutsche Bank team expects Powell to stick close to the script he gave after the May Fed meeting. "As a reminder, Powell ditched calendar-based forward guidance and indicated it would take longer to gain sufficient confidence on inflation to cut rates – a theme largely echoed by other officials since the meeting," they said.
GameStop races higher as Roaring Kitty returns
In single-stock news, GameStop (GME) soared 74.4% today, with several media outlets pointing to a post on X from Keith Gill, aka "Roaring Kitty," as the catalyst behind the jaw-dropping rally. Gill and his fellow members of Reddit's WallStreetBets are often cited for sparking the massive short squeeze in early 2021 that created volatile trading in several highly shorted stocks. This weekend's X post was Gill's first in three years.
Today's surge in GME had a halo effect on fellow meme stock AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC, +78.4%) and newly public social media platform Reddit (RDDT, 8.7%). Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide, says that while this is "likely just a blip, [it's] still something for investors to watch."
Jefferies thinks Nvidia can rally another 33%
Elsewhere, Nvidia (NVDA) gained 0.6% after Jefferies analyst Blayne Curtis boosted his price target on the Magnificent 7 stock to $1,200 from $780, representing implied upside of 33% to current levels.
The analyst adds that Nvidia is a "top pick" among artificial intelligence (AI) stocks given the chipmaker's exposure to the technology. And while he admits that "there may need to be winners and losers eventually … the time is not now with [the] AI tide rising."
Curtis' new price target is hardly the highest on Wall Street. That honor goes to Hans Mosesmann of Rosenblatt Securities, who has a $1,400 price target on NVDA.
Overall, industry analysts tracked by S&P Global Market Intelligence have an average target price of $1,021.20 for Nvidia. They also have a consensus Strong Buy rating.
As for the main indexes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.2% to 39,431 to snap its eight-day win streak as Home Depot (HD) dropped 1.6% ahead of its early morning appearance on the earnings calendar. The S&P 500 fell 0.02% to 5,221, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.3% to 16,388.
Related content
- When Is the Next CPI Report?
- What Is Stagflation and How Can Investors Prepare?
- When Is the Next Fed Meeting?
-
Nasdaq Leads a Rocky Risk-On Rally: Stock Market TodayAnother worrying bout of late-session weakness couldn't take down the main equity indexes on Wednesday.
-
Quiz: Do You Know How to Avoid the "Medigap Trap?"Quiz Test your basic knowledge of the "Medigap Trap" in our quick quiz.
-
5 Top Tax-Efficient Mutual Funds for Smarter InvestingMutual funds are many things, but "tax-friendly" usually isn't one of them. These are the exceptions.
-
Nasdaq Leads a Rocky Risk-On Rally: Stock Market Today
Another worrying bout of late-session weakness couldn't take down the main equity indexes on Wednesday.
-
5 Top Tax-Efficient Mutual Funds for Smarter Investing
Mutual funds are many things, but "tax-friendly" usually isn't one of them. These are the exceptions.
-
Why Invest In Mutual Funds When ETFs Exist?Exchange-traded funds are cheaper, more tax-efficient and more flexible. But don't put mutual funds out to pasture quite yet.
-
Social Security Break-Even Math Is Helpful, But Don't Let It Dictate When You'll FileYour Social Security break-even age tells you how long you'd need to live for delaying to pay off, but shouldn't be the sole basis for deciding when to claim.
-
I'm an Opportunity Zone Pro: This Is How to Deliver Roth-Like Tax-Free Growth (Without Contribution Limits)Investors who combine Roth IRAs, the gold standard of tax-free savings, with qualified opportunity funds could enjoy decades of tax-free growth.
-
One of the Most Powerful Wealth-Building Moves a Woman Can Make: A Midcareer PivotIf it feels like you can't sustain what you're doing for the next 20 years, it's time for an honest look at what's draining you and what energizes you.
-
Stocks Make More Big Up and Down Moves: Stock Market TodayThe impact of revolutionary technology has replaced world-changing trade policy as the major variable for markets, with mixed results for sectors and stocks.
-
I'm a Wealth Adviser Obsessed With Mahjong: Here Are 8 Ways It Can Teach Us How to Manage Our MoneyThis increasingly popular Chinese game can teach us not only how to help manage our money but also how important it is to connect with other people.
