U.S. stocks rose Tuesday as Wall Street looked to end a strong first month of 2023 amid a continued flurry of corporate earnings and the start of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) edged up nearly 0.8% during midday trading Tuesday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) moved up 0.4%. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) added roughly 1.1%.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note ticked down to 3.501% from 3.546% on Monday. The dollar index ticked down 0.06% to $102.22.
The major U.S. stock averages tumbled on Monday, kicking off a week packed with macro events and major tech earnings. For the session, tech underperformed, as the Nasdaq lost 2% in the index’s worst day since December 2022.
Oil steadied after trading sharply lower ahead of the OPEC+ meeting on Wednesday as oil ministers will review levels of output. The Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee of OPEC+ is expected to endorse the group’s current oil output policy.
The biggest item on the macroeconomic calendar is the FOMC’s policy meeting, which commences on Tuesday ahead of an anticipated Wednesday decision to hike rates by quarter percentage point, bringing the federal funds to a target range of 4.5% to 4.75%. Yet It’s unclear what could come next.
“[We] expect Powell to be quite hawkish in the press conference,” Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at JP Morgan, wrote in a note. “We look for him to stress two themes: (i) slowing is not stopping, and (ii) don’t expect rate cuts in ’23.”
Jerome Powell, Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, attends a Central Bank Symposium at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden on January 10, 2023. (Photo by CLAUDIO BRESCIANI/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images)
It’s also a significant week for the European Central Bank and the Bank of England, as it’s widely expected for officials to raise benchmark interest rates by 50 basis points on Thursday. Such a move would mark a slowdown from last year’s aggressive hikes, as inflation cools and unemployment levels remain low.
Elsewhere on the economic data front, consumer confidence fell to 107.1 compared to 109.0 in the prior month but remains above July 2022 levels, according to The Conference Board. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecasted a range of 105.0 to 112.5.
Earnings season in full force
The busiest week of the fourth-quarter earnings season kicked off, with more than 100 companies representing nearly one-third of the S&P 500’s market value reporting results.
Exxon Mobil (XOM) shares fell nearly 2% Tuesday after the company reported earnings that beat expectations in the fourth quarter, while revenue came in short. The oil giant posted adjusted quarterly earnings per share of $3.40 …….
