Stocks finished slightly lower Monday, as investors looked to consolidate gains from last week's record rally while eyeing key growth and inflation data later in the week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.16% to 39,069.23, while the S&P 500 lost 0.38% to 5,069.53 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq declined 0.13% to close at 15,976.25.
The S&P 500 ended last week with a record close of 5,088.80 points, powered in part by ongoing gains in Magnificent 7 tech stocks following a stronger-than-expected fourth quarter earnings report from AI chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) .
The surge also lifted the Dow to a record and took the Nasdaq to within 1% of its November 2021 peaks.
Updated at 1:02 PM EST
Disney
Disney (DIS) shares edged higher as the media and entertainment giant launched its latest salvo against activist investors, including billionaire Nelson Peltz, who are seeking seats on the board when the group sits for its annual meeting in April.
Disney, which has rejected call for radical change from both Peltz and Blackwells Capital, urged shareholders to reject their proxy campaign for board representation.
Disney shares were last marked 0.14% higher on the session at $107.87 each, pegging the stock's 2024 gain at around 19%.
Updated at 12:08 PM EST
Mixed lunch, grocery blocking
Stocks are flitting in-and-out of positive territory as we hit the mid-day break, with the S&P 500 down 5 points, or 0.1%, the Dow down 36 points and the Nasdaq up 19 points, or 0.12%.
Kroger (KR) shares, meanwhile, were marked 1.1% lower at $47.70 following a move by the Federal Trade Commission to file formal legal proceedings against its proposed $25 billion merger rival with Albertsons (ACI) .
$ACI $KR
— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) February 26, 2024
❖ FTC SUES TO BLOCK KROGERB S $24.6B ALBERTSONS ACQUISITION
❖ FTC NOTES KROGER DEAL WOULD LOWER WAGES, RAISE FOOD PRICES
Updated at 11:40 AM EST
Demand dip
The U.S. Treasury sold $63 billion in new 2-year notes this morning that showed a notable dip in overall demand, with investors bidding around $157 billion for the record paper on offer.
That bid-to-cover ratio of 2.49, however, was down from 2.57 level recorded at a similar sale last month.
A $60 billion sale of 5-years notes will follow later in the session.
US 2-YEAR NOTE AUCTION
— FinancialJuice (@financialjuice) February 26, 2024
BID-TO-COVER RATIO 2.49
HIGH YIELD 4.691% VS WI 2Y YIELD 4.689%
US SELLS $63 BLN
AWARDS 72.98% OF BIDS AT HIGH
PRIMARY DEALERS TAKE 14.73%
DIRECT 20.11%
INDIRECT 65.16%
Updated at 9:56 AM EST
Modest open
Stocks are essentially treading water in the opening half hour, with the S&P 500 up 2 points and the Dow up 100, with a boost from Amazon and Walmart. The Nasdaq is up 5 points.
"While many traders will be watching durable goods orders and the first revision to Q4 GDP, Thursday’s PCE Price Index may get more attention than usual," said Chris Larkin, managing director for trading and investing a E*Trade from Morgan Stanley.
"The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge often flies under the radar, but after hotter-than-expected CPI and PPI readings earlier this month, more people may be looking to the PCE to for insight into the reinflation threat, and how it may influence the Fed’s timing of rate cuts," he added.
Will Wall Street shrug off a surprising jump in Core PCE inflation numbers?https://t.co/zuRjnpVfeN
— IG (@IGcom) February 26, 2024
Updated at 9:18 AM EST
Split shelves
Stocks are turning higher into the opening bell, with all three benchmarks looking to extend gains from last week as traders look to Thursday's key inflation report.
Walmart shares are also in focus, rising 1.65% ahead of the retail giant's first day of trading under its 3-for-1 stock split plan that was unveiled in late January, aimed in part towards "its desire for its associates to feel that purchasing shares is easily within reach".
The split-based price is set to open at $59.39 per share.
Reminder: Walmart's $WMT stock split, 3-for-1, is now effective. https://t.co/CPJeGYegLk pic.twitter.com/DT7FsjdBrX
— Wall St Engine (@wallstengine) February 26, 2024
Updated at 9:08 AM EST
Deja Nvidia all over again
Nvidia shares moved higher again Monday, rising 1.2% in pre-market trading, as the tech giant powers past reports that suggest customers might be overstocked with its older H100 chips.
The Information reported late Friday that some companies are now actually looking to offload those chips on the secondary market.
After ‘Panic,’ Nvidia’s AI Chips Are Becoming Easier to Find — The Information. Short $nvda $amd. $smh $avgo https://t.co/PSHElpmuGB
— Craig A (@Craigabpt) February 26, 2024
Updated at 8:17 AM EST
Micron piggy-back
Micron Technology MU shares moved firmly higher in early trading after the memory chip maker said it would start ramping production of a new component designed to fit within Nvidia's new AI-focused H200.
Related: Micron leaps as chipmaker looks to piggyback on Nvidia AI demand surge
Stock Market Today
The S&P 500 ended last week with a record close of 5,088.80 points, powered in part by ongoing gains in Magnificent 7 tech stocks following a stronger-than-expected fourth quarter earnings report from AI chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) .
The moves higher, which also lifted the Dow to a record and took the Nasdaq to within 1% of its November 2021 peaks, were capped somewhat by a rise in Treasury-bond yields tied to inflation pressure evident in jobs and manufacturing data.
That likely puts a sharp focus on this week's key economic data release, the January reading of the PCE Price Index, which the Federal Reserve tracks closely in its rate-setting forecasts.
Related: S&P 500 record highs paper-over Fed risks and bond market signals
The PCE report, due Thursday, is likely to show another tick higher in core price pressures, which could cement the Fed's higher-for-longer rate projections and delay the prospect of any cuts into the summer months.
At present, investors estimate a 52.6% chance that rate cuts will begin in June, with only a 20.8% chance of a reduction at the Fed's May meeting.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis will also publish its second estimate of fourth-quarter GDP growth, following its first reading of 3.3% from late January.
Benchmark 2-year note yields, the most sensitive to interest-rate changes, were last marked little changed from Friday levels at 4.690% while 10-year notes were pegged at 4.248%.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six global currencies, was marked 0.18% lower at 103.751.
Wall Street faces a light calendar of corporate earnings this week, highlighted by updates from Salesforce (CRM) , Best Buy (BBY) and HP Enterprises (HPE) starting after the close of trading Wednesday.
With around 448 of the S&P 500 reporting so far, fourth-quarter earnings are forecast to rise 10% from a year earlier to a share-weighted $476.3 billion.
Heading into the start of the trading day, futures contracts tied to the S&P 500, which is up 5.02% for the month and 6.69% for the year, are priced for a 4 point opening bell decline.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which welcomes Amazon (AMZN) at the start of trading while saying goodbye to Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) , are indicating a 25 point opening bell decline.
Contracts linked to the Nasdaq, meanwhile, suggest a 10 point opening bell dip despite to another upswing for Nvidia.
In overseas markets, Europe's Stoxx 600 was marked 0.21% lower in early Frankfurt trading, while Britain's FTSE 100 slipped 0.3% in London.
Overnight in Asia, China stocks edged lower following the return from the country's Lunar New Year celebrations, pulling the regionwide MSCI ex-Japan index 0.36% lower into the close of trading.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 closed at a record for the first time since 1989, rising 0.35% on the session to finish at 39,233.71 points and extending its year-to-date gain to around 18%.
Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024
