The Dow Jones now is climbing thanks to a 1% bump for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). Other FAANG stocks including Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX), and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) were also up nearly 1% this morning.
Futures received a boost in confidence after China reported its first uptick in retail sales in 2020. The nation continues to recover from the economic shock of COVID-19. Let's get into everything moving the Dow today...
First, here are the numbers from Monday for the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq:
Index
Previous Close
Point Change
Percentage Change
Dow Jones
27,993.33
+327.69
+1.18
S&P 500
3,383.54
+42.57
+1.27
Nasdaq
11,056.65
+203.11
+1.87
Now here are what I think will be the most important market events and stocks on Monday morning.
The Top Stock Market Stories for Tuesday
AstraZeneca Plc. (NYSE: AZN) announced it will resume its phase 3 trial in the United Kingdom after a temporary pause. Meanwhile, Pfizer Inc.'s (NYSE: PFE) CEO said over the weekend that the company plans to provide critical data from its latest trial to the FDA by the end of October.
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Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Reserve is likely to remain tight on monetary policy through the year 2020, even if the central bank sees inflation move higher than 2%. According to CNBC's monthly Fed survey, the bulk of respondents forecast no hikes for the next two years thanks to the central bank's new goal of letting inflation rise above the 2% target. The Fed will begin a two-day meeting today on monetary policy.
Finally, oil prices ticked higher this morning despite news that the International Energy Agency had cut its global demand forecast again for 2020. The agency said that the global oil market faces a "treacherous" path ahead due to weaker global markets and the ongoing uptick of COVID-19 cases around the globe. Oil prices are off more than 25% since the start of the crisis thanks to fewer drivers and less economic activity. The IEA report comes a day after OPEC slashed its outlook for demand. OPEC's report largely cited weakening demand and economic output in India and Southeast Asian countries.
Stocks to Watch Today: LEN, NVDA, KHC
In earnings news, shares of Lennar Corp. (NYSE: LEN) retreated 3% despite a stronger-than-expected earnings report for the quarter. The company said that the average home sales price was expected to decline in the fourth quarter of the year due to broader macroeconomic concerns. However, the firm did report earnings per share of $2.12 on top of $5.87 billion in revenue. Wall Street projected much lower expectations at EPS of $1.55 per share and $5.48 billion in revenue.
Shares of Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) ripped higher yet again this morning. Yesterday, the company announced plans to purchase ARM Holdings from SoftBank for roughly $40 billion, a deal loved by Wall Street. This morning, investment firm Needham raised its price target on NVDA stock from $600 to $700 per share. The firm issued a "Buy" rating and projected that the deal could add up to $1.65 in earnings for NVDA by 2022. NVDA stock is now up more than 161% since its March lows.
Shares of Kraft Heinz Co. (NYSE: KHC) were ticking higher this morning after the company announced plans to slash its budget by roughly $2 billion over the next five years. Kraft has experienced higher sales during the COVID-19 outbreak. However, Wall Street says that it is losing market share. The firm will make strategic cuts under the direction of new CEO Miguel Patricio.
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Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, consultant, and political risk analyst with decades of trading experience and degrees in economics, cybersecurity, and business from Johns Hopkins, Purdue, Indiana University, and Northwestern.