Stock market today: Live updates

The three major indexes finished Monday’s session lower.

The Dow lost 0.3%, while the S&P 500 ticked lower by around 0.1%. The Nasdaq Composite slid 0.4%.

— Alex Harring

The S&P 500 has closed higher for all but two of the past 18 weeks. And the equity market has shown more resilience toward higher-for-long rates this year than it did last fall, which could be due to the improved growth outlook, according to UBS’s head of asset allocation, Jason Draho.

“Cold days, sunny days, rainy days, it’s all been the same for the market,” Draho wrote in a Monday note.

Although the market may stumble a bit during its upward climb, Draho expects the rest of the year to proceed in a higher direction.

“As for comparisons to the 1990s, between the path for the fed funds rate, IPO activity, technology developments, investor sentiment, and even valuations, it looks more like 1996 than 1999,” Draho said.

“The next two weeks should determine if the markets exit March like a lion after entering like a lamb. Even if they do, remember that April showers bring May flowers,” added Draho.

— Hakyung Kim

Prior instances when U.S. stocks have risen this relentlessly (since World War II, anyway) have only come in the wake of either a recession or a “bubble scenario” — and the current market has elements of both, Deutsche Bank macro strategist Henry Allen wrote to clients Monday.

“It’s rare to see a rally this fast, and when they happen it’s usually because the economy is emerging from recession and the stock market has just been through a slump,” Allen wrote, noting that the S&P 500 slumped 19.4% in 2022, its fourth-worst annual performance since 1945. “The only time in post-war history that this wasn’t the case was during the dot com bubble.”

Historically, after strong rallies, what happens next is “the S&P 500 has actually continued to advance over the next 6 and 12 months on every occasion,” Deutsche Bank said. What’s different this time is that the economy never fell into a recession from which it had to recover, at the same as the stock market rally over the past year “has been unusually narrow by historical standards.”

Last year, for example, was the first time since 1998 that the market cap-weighted S&P 500 outdistanced the equal-weighted S&P 500 by more than 10 percentage points, the report noted. Whatever the impetus, with the S&P 500 having advanced in 16 out of the past 18 weeks since the October 2023 low, “it is rare to see such a sustained period of outperformance,” Allen wrote.

— Scott Schnipper

The market is going higher while volatility is at low levels while froth at the top is increasing, worrying JPMorgan strategist Marko Kolanovic.

“Stocks continuing to push to new record highs and Bitcoin surging over $60k may indicate accumulating froth in the market,” Kolanovic, a widely followed strategist on the Street, wrote Monday. “This may keep monetary policy higher for longer, as premature rate cutting risks further inflating asset prices or causing another leg up in inflation.”

“We see a dichotomy in volatility markets: stock vol is near multi-year lows despite expensive valuations/elevated positioning/high concentration, rates vol remains stubbornly high given uncertainty around the timing/pace of rate cuts, and yet FX volatility has moved sharply lower despite elevated rates levels and vols,” he added.

The S&P 500 hit a fresh record last week, closing above 5,100 for the first time. The broad market index hovered around the flatline Monday, but it’s already up more than 7% year to date.

U.S. gold futures settled at a record high on Monday on the back of market rate cut expectations.

Gold prices typically have an inverse relationship with interest rates, meaning prices rise when rates fall. Gold prices began gaining after January inflation came in at the same level as expectations, with traders widely anticipating an initial rate cut in the second half of 2024.

April-dated gold contracts gained $30.60, or 1.46%, to settle at a record close of $2,126.30 on Monday.

The tech-powered rally has propelled stocks to new heights this year, with all three major indexes notching new closing records in 2024.

UBS sees no end in sight yet for the tech rally — but believes investors would be best suited to diversify their assets.

“With generative AI looking set to be the growth theme of the decade and US large-cap tech companies leading the revolution, we continue to believe that US tech stocks should make up a substantial portion of investors’ equity allocations. This means building up a strategic US large-cap holding for those underinvested,” the bank wrote. “But investors with excessive exposure should consider diversification, in our view.”

To do so, UBS recommended investors consider emerging trends in the industry, so they can broaden their portfolios to “capture the next growth opportunities.”

“We think Asia is a compelling destination for tech diversification, and see further potential in AI customs chips and foundries,” the bank added.

— Lisa Kailai Han

Technology stocks diverged during afternoon trading, with chipmakers and popular artificial intelligence plays leading the S&P 500‘s gains.

Nvidia was a top performer, surging more than 6% to new highs, while Super Micro Computer skyrocketed more than 20% amid news that it will join the S&P 500 later this month. Other major chip and technology gainers included Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, last up about 3% and 5%, respectively. Hewlett Packard Enterprise surged nearly 11%.

But Monday’s market moves painted a divided technology picture, with Tesla slumping nearly 7% after another round of price incentives. Apple dropped about 3% after getting hit with a nearly $2-billion European Union antitrust fine.

— Samantha Subin

Savita Subramanian, BofA Securities head of U.S. equity and quantitative strategy, raised her S&P 500 year-end target to 5,400 from 5,000, seeing another 5% upside from current levels and a 13% gain for the full year in 2024.

Her new forecast is tied with UBS for the highest among sell-side strategists, and is also about 5% higher than the average projection of 5,032, according to the CNBC Pro Market Strategist Survey, which rounds up the targets from the top 14 Wall Street strategists.

— Yun Li

Solar energy demand from utilities and data centers remains “very strong” as the grid faces a growing electricity load, First Solar CEO Mark Widmar told CNBC Monday.

Widmar told CNBC’s “Money Movers” that the “most economical way” to address the growing demand is through “large, utility-scale renewable energy.”

“We’re very well positioned to address that market,” the CEO said.

First Solar is one of the few bright spots in a renewable sector that has been walloped by high interest rates. The solar panel manufacturer is down about 10% year to date, while the Invesco Solar ETF (TAN) is down 19%.

While residential solar stocks took a beating in the fourth quarter, First Solar performed relatively well, beating earnings expectations and booking a record-order backlog.

“Right now, we’re on a trajectory that we’re going to double our capacity between what we exited in 2012 to where will be in 2025,” Widmar said.

— Spencer Kimball

Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic said he’s still worried about inflation, writing in an essay Monday that he’s concerned about “pent-up” exuberance” that could be unleashed after the central bank starts cutting interest rates.

“If that scenario were to unfold on a large scale, it holds the potential to unleash a burst of new demand that could reverse the progress toward rebalancing supply and demand,” he wrote in a post on the Atlanta Fed website. “That would create upward pressure on prices.”

Bostic, a voting member this year on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, has recently said he expects two quarter-percentage point rate cuts this year. He described his overall approach now as “grateful and vigilant” that the Fed has been able to reduce the inflation rate without crashing the economy.

—Jeff Cox

Gold futures are on pace for the highest settlement ever dating back to 1974.

The gold contract for April was up $27.1, or 1.29%, to $2,122.70 per ounce. On an intraday basis, gold futures were also near the all-time high of $2,152.30 set on Dec. 4, 2023.

The VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX) is up 3.5% and is on pace for the third consecutive day of gains. It’s also trading above the 50-day moving average of $28.295.

— Spencer Kimball

Tesla shed more than 7% during midday trading after the electric vehicle maker revealed a new round of discounts and price incentives on Friday.

Among the fresh round of discounts, Tesla said that customers in China would be entitled to nearly $5,000 worth of incentives through March of current Model 3 sedans and Model Y SUVs. Also included is an 8,000 yuan discount on related car insurance products.

The iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has surged past $10 billion in total assets, less than two months after its launch, according to the fund’s website.

The iShares fund has brought in more than $7.7 billion of inflows, the most of all bitcoin ETFs, with the rally for crypto pushing the total asset value even higher.

IBIT is the second biggest bitcoin fund on the market, still trailing behind the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). The Grayscale fund has seen about $8 billion in outflows since it converted into an ETF, but still has about $27 billion in total assets.

— Jesse Pound

The S&P 500 was weighed down in Monday’s session by consumer discretionary and communication services stocks.

The two sectors each slid more than 1%, the worst performing two of the 11 that comprise the index. Meanwhile, the benchmark S&P 500 as a whole traded near flat.

Paramount Global led communication services lower with a drop of more than 6%. Warner Bros. Discovery followed, tumbling more than 5%.

Just a handful of communication services stocks bucked the downtrend. Notably, Live Nation was the best performer with an advance of more than 2%.

Tesla was the worst performer of consumer discretionary names, losing more than 7%. V.F. Corporation and Ralph Lauren trailed, with each down around 3%.

Those losses outweighed sizable gains seen elsewhere in the sector. With a rally of more than 3%, Ford notched the largest advance in the sector following strong sales numbers.

— Alex Harring

These are the stocks moving the most in midday trading:

Read the full list of stocks moving here.

— Lisa Kailai Han

The Russell 2000 advanced 0.4% while the S&P 500 traded slightly below the flatline on Monday.

So far in March, the small cap index is up 1.2%, versus the S&P 500’s 0.8% gain. Nonetheless, the Russell still lags the broader market on a year-to-date basis; it is up just 2.6%, while the S&P 500 has jumped 7.7% during the period.

The Detroit automaker said Monday that it recorded sales of more than 174,000 cars and trucks in February. That marks an increase of about 10.5% compared with the same month a year prior.

Ford was helped by jumps of around 81% in electric vehicles and 32% in hybrid models.

With Monday’s advance, shares are up more than 6% so far in 2024.

— Alex Harring, Michael Wayland

A mixed performance among the different sectors comprising the S&P 500 can signal the market has more room to run, said John Stoltzfus, Oppenheimer’s chief investing strategist.

The benchmark index has continued grinding to new all-time highs in recent weeks, worrying investors about how much more it can run. But Stoltzfus said variance within the different industries proves the rally may have more steam — if laggards can join the strong performers.

“There’s likely room for a further broadening of this year’s stock market rally and opportunity to see equities further climb the proverbial wall of worry,” he told clients.

Information technology has led the index higher this year via a gain of more than 12%. On the other hand, utilities and real estate have dropped more than 3% and 1%, respectively, over the same period.

— Alex Harring

Crude oil futures held steady Monday after OPEC+ extended production cuts through the second quarter.

The West Texas Intermediate contract for April lost 19 cents, or 0.24%, to $79.78 a barrel. May Brent futures gained 5 cents, or 0.06%, to $83.60.

OPEC and its allies agreed Sunday to roll over production cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day through at least the end of the second quarter to support crude prices. The move was widely anticipated by the market.

Oil prices are likely to trade at higher highs and higher lows, though Brent will remain in a range of $73 to $96 a barrel, according to a research note from Bank of America published Monday.

— Spencer Kimball

The Nasdaq 100 index, composed of 100 of the largest nonfinancial companies that trade on the exchange, has gone 302 days without a -2.5% down day — it’s third longest streak since 1990, according to BTIG.

The index is seen as a proxy for growth stocks.

“While it’s not bearish per se, it does speak to some complacency short-term,” said Jonathan Krinsky, BTIG’s chief market technician.

“With that said, things continue to broaden under the surface and there are plenty of opportunities outside of the super high-momentum names that are far from timely, in our view,” he added.

The Nasdaq 100 has gained nearly 9% year to date.

— Michelle Fox

The three major indexes were lower as Monday’s trading session kicked off.

The Dow traded down more than 150 points, or around 0.4%, shortly after opening bell. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each slid around 0.1%.

— Alex Harring

Shares of JetBlue and Spirit diverged in premarket trading after the airlines announced their merger agreement was ending.

JetBlue popped more than 4% before the bell, while Spirit dived more than 15%. The moves come after the companies said they would stop trying to combine, weeks after losing a federal antitrust lawsuit that jeopardized the $3.8-billion deal.

— Alex Harring, Leslie Josephs, Rebecca Picciotto

Stocks are coming off a mixed week for the three major indexes.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite led the indexes higher last week with a 1.7% gain. The broad S&P 500, meanwhile, added almost 1%.

The Dow underperformed last week, shedding 0.1%.

— Alex Harring

One reason patients quit taking drugs like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound is that there can be side effects such as nausea and gastrointestinal issues. Patients in Viking’s trial were able to quickly ramp-up their dosage and lose weight faster, analysts said.

The promise of Viking’s therapy is that it might one day enter the market with Novo and Lilly, or be acquired by a larger pharmaceutical company, analysts said.

Separately, UBS became the latest firm to increase its price target on Eli Lilly shares. They see shares rising to $910 within the next year, or about 16% from where shares closed Friday. Last week, Bank of America also bumped up its target for Lilly shares.

—Christina Cheddar Berk, Annika Kim Constantino

Here are some of the stocks making the most significant moves before the bell:

• Super Micro Computer, Deckers Outdoor — Shares of Super Micro Computer and Deckers Outdoor jumped 12% and 5%, respectively, after S&P Dow Jones Indices said Friday the two companies would be added to the S&P 500 later this month.
• Macy’s — Macy’s stock skyrocketed nearly 17% after Arkhouse Management upped its buyout offer for the department store chain to $24 from $21 a share, or about $6.6 billion.
• Apple — Apple slipped about 1% after the European Commission fined the iPhone maker $1.95 billion related to music streaming.

Read the full list of stocks on the move here.

— Samantha Subin

Apple shares were down about 0.8% in the premarket after the European Commission fined the tech giant more than €1.8 billion over the company’s “abusive” app store rules for music streamers.

“Such lump sum fine was necessary in this case because a significant part of the harm caused by the infringement consists of non-monetary harm,” the Commission said in a statement. “In addition, the fine must be sufficient to deter Apple from repeating the present or a similar infringement; and to deter other companies of a similar size and with similar resources from committing the same or a similar infringement.”

Apple responded with a statement of its own, saying the decision was reached “despite the Commission’s failure to uncover any credible evidence of consumer harm, and ignores the realities of a market that is thriving, competitive, and growing fast.”

— Fred Imbert

Shares of Super Micro Computer and Deckers Outdoor jumped 12% and 5%, respectively, after S&P Dow Jones Indices said Friday the two companies would be added to the S&P 500 later this month. They will replace Whirlpool and Zion Bancorp, which will move to the S&P MidCap 400 index as of the March 18 open.

The constellation of U.S. stocks that have recently touched all-time highs is long and impressive: the S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Wilshire 5000, NYSE Composite and the PHLX Semiconductor Sector indexes.

Here are remaining major and secondary index records that still stand as of Monday morning, according to FactSet data. Some are a breath away, others have farther to go:

S&P 500 Equal Weighted Index: March 1, 2024 close 6633.8.

Jan. 4, 2022 all-time closing high: 6664.65.

Jan. 5, 2022 all-time intraday high: 6691.21

Russell 2000 Index: March 1, 2024 close: 5160.36.

Nov. 8, 2021 all-time closing and intraday high: 6070.83

S&P Mid Cap 400: March 1, 2024 close: 2910.66.

Nov. 16, 2021 all-time closing high: 2910.70.

Nov. 7, 2021 all-time intraday high: 2925.93

Dow Jones Transportation Average: March 1, 2024 close: 15,832.62.

Nov. 2, 2021 all-time closing high: 17,039.38.

Nov. 2, 2021 all-time intraday high: 18,246.51

Dow Jones Utilities Average: March 1, 2024 close: 833.04.

April 6, 2022 all-time closing high: 1070.93.

April 8, 2022 all-time intraday high: 1075.53

— Scott Schnipper

Chinese EV makers shares listed in Hong Kong fell in early trading on Monday.

Shares of Li Auto led declines with falls of nearly 11%, while Nio shares dropped 4.6%, Xpeng down 3.9% and BYD off 1.3%.

Fears of price wars persist in China’s EV market, the world’s largest. On Monday, BYD also launched a new version of its best-selling car, the Yuan Plus crossover also known as the Atto 3 overseas, pricing it lower than its discontinued predecessor, according to Reuters.

Last week, Li Auto revealed a new EV called “Mega.”

“Overall, it appears that local OEMs are developing a fear of missing out (FOMO) when it comes to price cuts,” Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Japan’s Nikkei 225  hit yet another record high to top the 40,000 level Monday. The index was last up 0.8%.

The benchmark index has been on a record rally, which has seen it hitting all-time highs for the first time in 34 years.

Both the Nikkei and the broader Topix have been top performers among major stock markets in the Asia-Pacific. The Nikkei is up over 20% so far this year, while the Topix is up nearly 15%.

Strong earnings and investor-friendly measures by Japan’s government have fueled a blistering rally in equities this year.

The broad-based Topix inched 0.1% higher Monday after crossing the 2,700 mark and hitting a record high last Friday.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

South Korea’s industrial output fell for the second straight month in January, while retail sales grew during the month according to data.

Industrial output growth in January fell 1.3%, from a revised 0.5% in the prior month. A Reuters poll forecast was expecting a 1% rise.

South Korea’s retail sales grew 0.8% in January, after falling 0.8% in the previous month.

— Shreyashi Sanyal

Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital Management are raising their offer to acquire department store chain Macy’s by nearly $1 billion, according to a Sunday press release. Macy’s had previously turned down the proposal, saying it had failed to “provide compelling value” to shareholders.

The offer, which previously valued the retailer at $21 per share, or $5.8 billion, now values Macy’s stock for $24 per share, or $6.6 billion. The new offer represents more than 37% upside from the stock’s last closing price of $17.44.

— Pia Singh

U.S. stock futures were about flat Sunday after the a record-setting week for the Nasdaq Composite.

Nasdaq-100 futures rose slightly while S&P 500 futures dipped marginally. Dow futures slipped 27 points, or 0.1%.

— Fred Imbert

U.S. stocks finished Friday’s trading session higher, with the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 closing at fresh record highs.

The Nasdaq rose 1.14%, finishing at 16,274.94. The S&P 500 added 0.80% at 5,137.08. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added around 91 points, or 0.23%, to 39,087.38.

— Hakyung Kim