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Stocks fell from last week’s highs on Monday, as earnings season gets started this week.
By the close, the
was down 55 points, or 0.2%, while the
was nearly unchanged. The
was off 0.4%.
Earnings season gets started this week, with
(ticker: JPM),
(GS), and
(WFC) getting things going on Wednesday. The question for investors this earnings season is whether the good economic news is already reflected in stock prices—and whether guidance will be strong enough to push stocks higher.
“We expect another earnings season of strong ‘beats’ that are already prices and expect investors will be more focused on guidance, specifically margins/costs, and the ability to source supply to meet strong demand,” writes Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson.
India’s main stock market index saw its worst performance in six weeks on Monday, dropping sharply as a spate of new coronavirus cases had investors jittery that new restrictions would come.
The
fell 3.4%, the worst single-day drop since the 3.8% slide on Feb. 26. India recorded 169,914 new infections and 904 deaths on Sunday.
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There was more negative coronavirus news from China, where a government official said the effectiveness of its vaccines was low. The
dropped 1.1%, and markets in Tokyo and Hong Kong also fell.
That offset some positive developments on the virus front from elsewhere, with pubs and hairdressers reopening in England. In the U.S., Federal Reserve Chair
Jerome Powell
said the economy was at an inflection point, as he also told the “60 Minutes” news program that the central bank would wait until the jobs recovery was complete before increasing interest rates.
“The upcoming weeks will provide a reality check on whether this bull market still has the potential to creep higher or some profits needs to be cashed out,” said
Hussein Sayed,
chief market strategist at FXTM.
surged 12% in Seoul after reaching a legal settlement with LG Energy Solution that won praise from the White House, relieved that the supply of batteries for electric vehicles to
and
won’t be disrupted. SK Innovation will pay LG 2 trillion won, or $1.8 billion. Shares of
LG Energy Solution’s parent company, edged up 0.6%.
Shares of
(BABA) were up 8.6% even after receiving a record $2.8 billion regulatory fine in China.
(NUAN) stock was up 16% after
(MSFT) agreed to buy the company for nearly $20 billion, or $56 a share. Microsoft stock ended nearly flat.
(UBER) shares rose 3.1% after the company announced record gross bookings in March.
(MTCH) shares rose 0.5% after BTIG upgraded the stock to Buy from Neutral.
(QCOM) shares are down 2.2% after Evercore downgraded the stock to In-line from Outperform.
(TSLA) gained 3.7% after getting upgraded to Buy from Hold at Canaccord.
shares rose 7.7% and
added 10%, as the two utility companies said they have reached a deal in principle on a merger, with Veolia to pay €20.50 per share.
Shares of Italian diagnostic specialist
surged 9.6% on Monday, after announcing a deal to buy Covid-19 testing kit maker
for around $1.8 billion, or $37 per share.
Write to Teresa Rivas at teresa.rivas@barrons.com
