On Monday, the three major U.S. stock market indices showed mixed movements. Investors were preparing for the financial reports of large banks on Tuesday and closely watched the geopolitical developments in the energy market.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 195.60 points, or 0.38%, to 51,850.55; the S&P 500 Index fell by 4.30 points, or 0.06%, to 7,807.24; the Nasdaq Composite Index fell by 120.26 points, or 0.44%, to 27,245.90.
Large tech stocks showed mixed performances: Meta rose by over 3%, Apple and Microsoft both gained more than 1%, Google closed slightly higher, while Amazon, NVIDIA, and Tesla fell by over 1%. sectors such as storage, optical communications, and computer hardware saw declines, with Qunteng falling by over 9%, Corning by 6%, and Sandisk by nearly 6%. SK Hynix and Supermicro Computer both dropped by over 4%, and Micron Technology and Seagate Technology fell by over 3%.
At the same time, oil prices rose. Previously, President Trump announced over the weekend that Russia and Ukraine had reached an "energy ceasefire," but subsequently, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy stated that Moscow had violated that agreement. By the close of trading on that day, the price of light crude oil futures for delivery in November at the New York Mercantile Exchange increased by $1.89 to close at $93.74 per barrel, a gain of 2.06%; the price of London Brent crude oil futures for delivery in December increased by $1.93 to close at $106.65 per barrel, a gain of 1.84%.
Trump also told reporters that after another deadly attack at Riyadh International Airport, he is considering joining Saudi Arabia in its efforts to combat Houthi forces supported by Iran in Yemen. These remarks have increased the likelihood of an escalation of tensions in the region.
Investors hope that the third-quarter earnings season will help the stock market overcome the turmoil in the Middle East. All parties estimate that the upcoming results are expected to be strong. According to John Butters from FactSet, the earnings growth of the S&P 500 index is expected to reach 29.6% this quarter. This will be the fourth consecutive quarter in which the index experiences earnings growth of over 25%, thanks to the strong momentum in AI data center construction.
The financial reporting season officially kicks off this week with major banks, with Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo all expected to release their earnings this week.
Key inflation data will also be released this week, with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) for September being published on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.
"Everything will depend on profits," said Tim Holland, the chief investment officer of Orion. He added that even if this week's inflation data exceeds expectations, the market will consider it "insufficient to cause the Federal Reserve to deviate from its course." According to CME Group FedWatch tools, the market generally expects the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates unchanged at its next meeting.
“At some point, something will inevitably disrupt this bull market, but I believe the most important thing at present is the capital expenditure on AI construction,” he said.
This week marks the fourth anniversary of the start of a bull market for the S&P 500 index, which hit a low close of 3,577.03 points in October 2022. Since then, the index has more than doubled in value.
