U.S. stock indexes inch higher
Few market-moving events to financial calendars this week.
U.S. stocks inched higher Monday as the Standard & Poor’s 500 index steadied following back-toback losses the last two weeks.
This week may be a calmer one for the stock market, after an uncharacteristically bumpy stretch shook what had been an incredibly smooth ride for stocks this year. Few market-moving events are on the calendar this week, and the highlight will likely arrive when central bankers from around the world gather in Wyoming as the weekend approaches.
The S&P 500 rose 2.82 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,428.37 after it and other indexes flipped between small gains and losses throughout the day. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 29.24, or 0.1 percent, to 21,703.75, and the Nasdaq composite slipped 3.40 points, or 0.1 percent, to 6,213.13.
The modest moves were a return to form for the market. It has had just four days this year where the S&P 500 has dropped by more than 1 percent, which is well below the typical number in recent decades. But half of those instances occurred in the last two weeks, stoked by worries about discord in Washington and the potential for war abroad.
“One of the reasons the market has held in and performed well recently — although it’s wobbled a bit in the last two weeks — has been earnings,” said Ernie Cecilia, chief investment officer at Bryn Mawr Trust. “Without the earnings that we saw, it would have been a much more difficult period of time for the market.”
Companies are mostly finished reporting their results for the spring quarter, and their growth in profits was stronger than analysts expected. Not only that, businesses also reported higher revenues. That’s encouraging given the struggles many companies have had in recent years to grow amid the still-sluggish global economy.
Cecilia said he sees few potential drivers that could move markets much in either direction in the coming weeks, and he expects the market to “trade in some sort of sideways fashion.”
One highlight could be the gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for central bankers, economists and policymakers. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank head Mario Draghi are expected to speak at the symposium, which begins Thursday and is hosted by the Fed’s regional bank in Kansas City.
On Monday, mining companies helped lead the market after prices for metals and other commodities rose. Free-port-McMoRan had the biggest gain in the S&P 500, up 58 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $14.73. Not far behind was Newmont Mining, which rose 78 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $36.61.
Gold rose $5.10 to settle at $1,296.70 per ounce, silver rose 2 cents to $17.02 per ounce and copper gained 4 cents to $2.98 per pound.