U.S. stocks tumbled Monday as investors await a blockbuster week that includes the latest Fed meeting, a flurry of heavyweight earnings reports, and jobs data.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) was down 1.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) lost nearly 0.8%. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) declined by roughly 2%.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note ticked up to 3.546% on Monday morning. The dollar index ticked up 0.32% to $102.26.
Stocks closed a winning week Friday following data that pointed to stronger-than-expected U.S. economic growth. All the major market averages finished higher for the week, with the S&P 500 gaining 2.5%, the Dow Jones Industrial average ending up 1.8% and the Nasdaq climbing north of 4%.
The Commerce Department said Friday the personal consumption expenditures price index, excluding energy and food, showed prices rose 4.4% from a year earlier. Friday’s report came in a day after the government reported a better-than-expected 2.9% gain in gross domestic product for the fourth quarter, boosting hopes that the Federal Reserve may head toward the elusive “soft landing” scenario.
Fed officials will be meeting in Washington, D.C., Tuesday and Wednesday. The meeting will wrap up with Fed Chair Jerome Powell holding a press conference Wednesday afternoon as he offers signs of the central bank’s path forward on rate hikes.
“The FOMC’s work is not yet done, even if the recent declines in inflation and wage growth give it more time to assess the effects of past policy actions. A key challenge for the FOMC will be to execute its transition to smaller rate hikes without furthering expectations that an end to its hiking cycle is imminent,” the team at Barclays wrote.
At the end of week, investors will get another clue of the Fed’s path as the government’s January jobs report is set to be released Friday morning. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect 185,000 jobs were added to the economy last month, a slowdown from the gain of 223,000 jobs in December.
Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Jerome H. Powell participates in a panel during a Central Bank Symposium at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden, January 10, 2023. TT News Agency/Claudio Bresciani/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. SWEDEN OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN SWEDEN.
Meanwhile, it’s the biggest week of the fourth-quarter earnings season, with Big Tech results taking the spotlight amid thousands of layoffs in the industry. Despite the already announced job cuts, the tech companies’ are in part to blame for the disaster, Yahoo Finance’s Dan Howley writes.
The heavy earnings slate includes reports from tech heavyweights …….
