Stocks Grind Higher As Dollar Weakens, Tesla Rockets On Analyst Boost: What's Driving Markets Monday?

Wall Street started the week on a positive note, with all the major stock averages posting modest yet encouraging gains on Monday.

Highlighting the day, Tesla Inc. TSLA soared by as much as 10%, marking its most robust daily increase since the end of January 2023. The boost for Elon Musk’s enterprise came after Morgan Stanley upgraded the company from Marketweight to Overweight, raising the price target from $250 to $400 per share.

Qualcomm Inc. QCOM climbed by over 3.5%, leading the pack among semiconductor stocks. This rise was spurred by the company securing of a 3-year 5G supply agreement with Apple Inc. AAPL.

Investors are eagerly anticipating the release of the U.S. CPI report on Wednesday, Sept. 13. The headline inflation rate is expected to jump to 3.6% for August.

Cues From Monday’s Trading:

The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, while the Dow Jones ticked 0.2% higher. Tech stocks in the Nasdaq 100 outperformed, up 0.6%, while small caps in the Russell 2000 rose 0.3%.

US Index Performance on Monday

Index	Performance (+/-)	Value
Nasdaq 100	+0.60%	13,849.53
S&P 500 Index	+0.45%	4,483.11
Dow Industrials	+0.17%	34,631.59
Russell 2,000 Index	+0.33%	1,857.54

Monday’s Trading In Major US Equity ETFs

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY was 0.4% higher to $447.24
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF DIA rose 0.2% to $347.05 
• The Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ gained 0.5% to $374.55, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Looking at the S&P 500’s sectors:

• The Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund XLY led gains, up over 2.2% on the day.
• The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE was the laggard, down 0.4%.

Upcoming Economic Data:

The week's economic calendar is back-end loaded, with some key numbers having implications for the Fed funds rate due.

Wednesday's consumer price inflation report for August is expected to show a pickup in the monthly and annual rates of inflation, thanks to a spike in oil prices. The annual core rate is expected to see a further slowdown.

The weekly jobless claims report and the August producer price inflation report are both due on Thursday, while the results of the September Empire State manufacturing survey, the University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment index for September, and the Federal Reserve's August industrials production report could also move the needle on the market.

Monday, the New York Federal Reserve's consumer inflation expectations reading for August is due at 11 a.m. EDT. In July, median inflation expectations declined across all three horizons, falling to 3.5 percent at the short-term horizon and to 2.9 percent at the medium- and long-term horizons.

The Treasury auctioned three- and six-month bills at 11:30 a.m. EDT and three-year notes at 1 p.m. EDT.

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Stocks In Focus:

• Apple was broadly flat, up about 0.25%, ahead of Tuesday’s iPhone launch event.
• Nvidia Corp. NVDA fell 2%, while Qualcomm Inc. rose 3.6%.
• Carlisle Companies Inc. CSL rose over 10%, after a report on the company rejecting Kingspan Group’s buyout proposal.
• Companies reporting after the close include Oracle Corp. ORCL and Casey’s General Stores, Inc. CASY.

Monday’s Trading In Major US Equity ETFs:

Crude oil rose 0.4%, with a barrel of WTI-grade crude trading at $87. The United States Oil Fund ETF USO was 0.4% higher to $78.61.  

Treasury yields were mixed: the 10-year yield held steady at 4.28% and the two-year yield fell by 2 basis points to 4.98%. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT was 0.7% lower for the day. 

The dollar dropped, with the U.S. dollar index, which is tracked by the Invesco DB USD Index Bullish Fund ETF UUP, up 0.55%. The EUR/USD pair, which is tracked by the Invesco CurrecyShares Euro Currency Trust FXE, was 0.5% higher to 1.0820.

European equity indices closed in the green. The SPDR DJ Euro STOXX 50 ETF  FEZ fell 0.9%. 

Gold edged 0.4% up to $1,924.45/oz, while silver rose 0.7% to $23.07. Bitcoin BTC/USD was 1.4% lower to $26,078.

Staff writer Piero Cingari updated this report midday Monday. 

Photo: Shutterstock