Stocks ended higher Monday as tech stocks climbed and investors contended with President Joe Biden's decision to withdraw from the 2024 election while bracing for a busy week on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 127 points, or 0.32%, to end the day at 40,415.44, while the S&P 500 climbed 1.08% to 5,564.41, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 1.58% to finish the session at 18,007.57.
Nvidia led the rally, rising 4.8% to $123.54. The company got an early boost from a price target upgrade at Piper Sandler and reports that the chipmaker is devising a new version of its Blackwell series that it can sell to China-based customers.
Biden, who made his decision in a statement released Sunday, has backed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democrats best hope to take on former President and frontrunner Donald Trump.
“Biden stepping down is a whole new level of political uncertainty,” said Gina Bolvin, President of Bolvin Wealth Management Group. “This may be the catalyst for market volatility that is overdue.”
Louis Navellier, chairman and founder of Navellier & Associates, said that “political pundits see a real possibility of a different candidate emerging during the Democratic Convention which begins on August 19th.”
“For now, Trump is the lead horse in the race, and bets are leaning into his proposed policies,” he added.
Updated at 12:37 PM EDT
Barbie bid?
Mattel (MAT) rocketed higher in mid-day trading following a Reuters report suggesting private equity group L Catterton has made a takeover offer for the Barbie maker.
No details of the size or scope of the L Catteron offer, which is backed by France-based luxury group LVMH, were reported.
Mattel shares were last marked 18.8% higher on the session at $19.28 each, a move that would value the El Segundo, California-based group at around $6.7 billion.
$MAT halted, approached with acquisition offer
— unusualwhales.com Snorlax (๑❛ ڡ ❛๑) (@snorlax_uw) July 22, 2024
One of those turbo-bull 3 leggers saw play earlier in the month pic.twitter.com/IVZGz94FId
Updated at 10:40 AM EDT
CrowdStrike slump
CrowdStrike (CRWD) shares are extending their heavy Friday declines, falling another 11.3% in early trading as analysts race to reprice the cybersecurity specialists following last week’s IT disaster tied to an update of its Falcon senor platform.
Added pressure on the stock is also tied to comments from Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who said he is removing the software from his group’s myriad systems.
$CRWD is down another 9% today after its 11% decline on Friday. Investors are calibrating the degree of brand damage following a weekend of notable customers, including $TSLA, threatening to leave.
— Gene Munster (@munster_gene) July 22, 2024
The reality is despite Crowdstrike's epic failure last week, there are few…
Updated at 9:42 AM EDT
Solid open
The S&P 500 was marked 49 points, or 0.89% higher in the opening minutes of trading, with the Nasdaq rising 230 points, or 1.3%, and the Dow up 125 points.
The small cap Russel 2000 index, meanwhile, gained 13 points, or 0.6%.
S&P 500 Opening Bell Heatmap (Jul. 22, 2024)$SPY +0.66%🟩$QQQ +1.02% 🟩$DJI +0.34%🟩$IWM +0.59%🟩 pic.twitter.com/NwezOoNQnS
— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) July 22, 2024
Updated at 8:09 AM EDT
Nvidia bounce
Nvidia (NVDA) shares are getting an early boost from a price target upgrade at Piper Sandler and reports that the chipmaker is devising a new version of its Blackwell series that it can sell to China-based customers.
Nvidia shares were last marked 2.07% higher in premarket trading to indicate an opening bell price of $120.37 each.
Related: Analyst puts Nvidia stock on watch; report points to new China chip
Updated at 7:39 AM EDT
Verizon static
Verizon Communications (VZ) shares slumped lower after the wireless carrier posted a mixed set of second quarter earnings that included a bigger-than-expected gain in mobile subscribers.
Verizon added a net new 148,000 customers paying a monthly bill over the three months ending in June, but the flexible 'only pay for what you need' plans kept broader revenue gains in check, with the topline tally rising just 0.6% to $32.8 billion.
Verizon shares were last marked 3% lower in premarket trading to indicate an opening bell price of $40.37 each.
$VZ Earnings:
— AlphaSense (@AlphaSenseInc) July 22, 2024
- Total operating revenue of $32.8 billion, up 0.6 percent from second-quarter 2023.
- Consolidated net income for the second quarter of $4.7 billion, down from consolidated net income of $4.8 billion in second-quarter 2023, and consolidated adjusted EBITDA of… pic.twitter.com/XFe3gqLHnU
Stock Market Today
Biden, who made his decision in a statement released Sunday, has backed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democrats best hope to take on former President and frontrunner Donald Trump, with betting markets now adjusting their odds for the November result as well as House and Senate races.
"While it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term," Biden said.
Stocks are likely to face renewed volatility as a result of the entry of Harris, 59, into the presidential race as investors judge whether to unwind last week's 'Trump trade' that saw big declines in megacap tech and a rotation into smaller company and domestic-focused stocks.
Mason Trinca/Getty
The CBOE Group's VIX index, the market's benchmark volatility gauge, was last marked 3.6% higher at $16.50 following news of Biden's withdraw, near to the highest levels in six months.
At $16.52, the VIX suggests traders expect the S&P 500 to have a daily swing of around 1.03%, or around 57 points, over the next 30 days.
Related: Market risk rises as Biden drops out of presidential race
On Wall Street, stocks are set for a firmer open to offset last week's pullback, with futures contracts tied to the S&P 500 indicating a 26 point opening bell gain and those linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average priced for a 52 point advance.
The tech-focused Nasdaq, meanwhile, is called 135 points higher ahead of an active week for corporate earnings that includes updates from heavyweights such as Tesla (TSLA) , and Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) .
Around 134 S&P 500 companies will report second quarter earnings this week, with analyst looking for collective profits for the benchmark to rise 11.1% from last year to $496.7 billion.
Related: Stock sentiment resets after tech pullback
Two key economic data releases this week include a first look at second quarter GDP growth on Thursday and the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge for the month of June, the PCE Price Index, slated for Friday.
More Wall Street Analysts:
- Analyst revisits Nvidia stock price target after Blackwell checks
- Analysts prescribe new Walgreens stock price targets after earnings
- Analyst revises Facebook parent stock price target in AI arms race
Overseas markets were mixed following news of Biden's departure from the presidential race, with stocks in Asia falling broadly across the board, despite an interest rate cut from the People's Bank of China, and markets in Europe edging modestly higher.
The region-wide Stoxx 600 was marked 0.98% higher in Frankfurt, with Britain's FTSE 100 up 0.81% higher in London.
Related: Veteran fund manager sees world of pain coming for stocks
