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The S&amp;P 500 and the Nasdaq closed sharply higher on Wednesday after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell acknowledged that inflation was starting to ease, in remarks he made following a quarter-point rate hike by the U.S. central bank.

Wall Street's major indexes had lost ground immediately after the Fed announced its rate hike decision. Its statement also said "ongoing increases" to rates would be appropriate.

But the indexes bounced off their lows and kept gaining ground soon after Powell started speaking to reporters with the S&amp;P ending up 1% and the Nasdaq adding 2%.

Investors were encouraged by Powell's answer to a question about easing financial conditions such as rising equities and falling bond yields in recent months, according to Angelo Kourkafas, investment strategist at Edward Jones, St Louis.

"He had an opportunity to relay a hawkish message and didn't take it. He could've said that markets are getting overly excited and he didn't take the opportunity. Instead he said a lot of tightening has already happened," said Kourkafas.

Since Powell said he could acknowledge for the first time that disinflation had started to happen, investors saw his suggestion that there could be two more rate hikes as a "placeholder" the strategist said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 6.92 points, or 0.02%, to 34,092.96, the S&amp;P 500 (.SPX) gained 42.61 points, or 1.05%, to 4,119.21 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 231.77 points, or 2%, to 11,816.32.

The afternoon rally had the S&amp;P registering its highest closing level since Aug. 25 while the Nasdaq posted its highest close since September.

Of the S&amp;P 500's 11 major industry sectors only energy ended the day lower (.SPNY), down 1.9%, while interest rate sensitive technology shares (.SPLRCT) were the biggest gainers, up 2.3%.

Investors were mostly focused on the Fed's path forward, as the size of increase for its first policy meeting of the year was in line with expectations after rapid increases in 2022 including a December rate hike of 50 basis points.

After the press conference, money markets were betting on a terminal rate of 4.892% in June compared with bets for 4.92% just before the Fed's statement.

U.S. futures were still pricing in rate cuts this year with the fed funds rate seen at 4.403% by the end of December, the same as before the meeting.

Recent readings have indicated that inflation is easing, with the Fed also looking at data that will determine the resilience of the labor market and the pace of wage growth.

But data showed U.S. job openings unexpectedly rose in December ahead of the Labor Department's comprehensive report on nonfarm payrolls for January due on Friday.

Separate economic data showed U.S. manufacturing contracted further in January as higher rates stifled demand for goods.

All three indexes had a strong start to the year, with the S&amp;P (.SPX) and the Dow (.DJI) witnessing their first gain for January since 2019 as investors returned to markets, which were bruised in the previous year by a hawkish Fed.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 2.86-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.28-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&amp;P 500 posted 24 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 136 new highs and 23 new lows.

About 13.7 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges, compared with the 11.5 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.

Wall Street rallies as Fed's Jerome Powell nods to easing inflation after rate hike

Wall Street's major indexes had lost ground immediately after the Fed announced its rate hike decision. Its statement also said "ongoing increases" to rates would be appropriate.

The S&amp;amp;P 500 and the Nasdaq closed sharply higher on Wednesday after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell acknowledged that inflation was starting to ease, in remarks he made following a quarter-point rate hike by the U.S. central bank.

Wall Street's major indexes had lost ground immediately after the Fed announced its rate hike decision. Its statement also said &quot;ongoing increases&quot; to rates would be appropriate.

But the indexes bounced off their lows and kept gaining ground soon after Powell started speaking to reporters with the S&amp;amp;P ending up 1% and the Nasdaq adding 2%.

Investors were encouraged by Powell's answer to a question about easing financial conditions such as rising equities and falling bond yields in recent months, according to Angelo Kourkafas, investment strategist at Edward Jones, St Louis.

&quot;He had an opportunity to relay a hawkish message and didn't take it. He could've said that markets are getting overly excited and he didn't take the opportunity. Instead he said a lot of tightening has already happened,&quot; said Kourkafas.

Since Powell said he could acknowledge for the first time that disinflation had started to happen, investors saw his suggestion that there could be two more rate hikes as a &quot;placeholder&quot; the strategist said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 6.92 points, or 0.02%, to 34,092.96, the S&amp;amp;P 500 (.SPX) gained 42.61 points, or 1.05%, to 4,119.21 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 231.77 points, or 2%, to 11,816.32.

The afternoon rally had the S&amp;amp;P registering its highest closing level since Aug. 25 while the Nasdaq posted its highest close since September.

Of the S&amp;amp;P 500's 11 major industry sectors only energy ended the day lower (.SPNY), down 1.9%, while interest rate sensitive technology shares (.SPLRCT) were the biggest gainers, up 2.3%.

Investors were mostly focused on the Fed's path forward, as the size of increase for its first policy meeting of the year was in line with expectations after rapid increases in 2022 including a December rate hike of 50 basis points.

After the press conference, money markets were betting on a terminal rate of 4.892% in June compared with bets for 4.92% just before the Fed's statement.

U.S. futures were still pricing in rate cuts this year with the fed funds rate seen at 4.403% by the end of December, the same as before the meeting.

Recent readings have indicated that inflation is easing, with the Fed also looking at data that will determine the resilience of the labor market and the pace of wage growth.

But data showed U.S. job openings unexpectedly rose in December ahead of the Labor Department's comprehensive report on nonfarm payrolls for January due on Friday.

Separate economic data showed U.S. manufacturing contracted further in January as higher rates stifled demand for goods.

All three indexes had a strong start to the year, with the S&amp;amp;P (.SPX) and the Dow (.DJI) witnessing their first gain for January since 2019 as investors returned to markets, which were bruised in the previous year by a hawkish Fed.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 2.86-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.28-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&amp;amp;P 500 posted 24 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 136 new highs and 23 new lows.

About 13.7 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges, compared with the 11.5 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.

US stocks ended January with a gain, as investors cheered signs of labor costs easing and inflation cooling as they gear up for Wednesday’s Federal Reserve decision. Traders continued to grapple with earnings after the stock market closed.

The Invesco QQQ Trust, a $153.6 billion exchange-traded fund tracking the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100, dropped in postmarket trading after Electronic Arts Inc. gave a forecast for net bookings that fell short of analysts’ estimates. Snap Inc. also fell after forecasting its first-ever quarterly revenue decline.

However, Advanced Micro Devices Inc.’s better-than-expected sales forecast for the first quarter could still buoy tech shares, as investors brace for reports from Meta Platforms Inc. and Apple Inc. this week.

The S&amp;P 500 still had its best month since October, as traders expect the Fed to slow its pace of interest-rate hikes. The Nasdaq 100 rallied the most this month since July. Treasuries gained, with the 10-year yield sliding to around 3.51%. It fell more than 30 basis points during January, the most since November. A dollar index dropped.

Investors are grappling with a flurry of economic data, earnings and rate decisions this week. Data on Tuesday showed prices in US housing market continued to cool, while another report highlighted consumer confidence unexpectedly falling. Hanging over everything is Wednesday’s Fed decision, with the central bank widely expected to raise rates by a quarter percentage point.

While Tuesday’s data from the Labor Department added to evidence that wage growth is slowing, it may still not be enough to sway the Fed. Investors will be watching for the tone officials set for future meetings. While Fed Chair Jerome Powell has repeatedly pushed back against hopes of rate cuts later this year, central bank officials could consider pausing rate hikes after their March meeting.

But the recent rally in stocks and bonds does not help the Fed’s bid to tighten financial conditions, said Jeff Muhlenkamp, portfolio manager at Muhlenkamp &amp; Co.

Speaking about Powell’s presser Wednesday, he said “I expect that he will continue to try to talk the market into doing something that it is not currently doing.”

Investors also assessed a bevy of earnings reports on Tuesday. Shares of McDonald’s Corp. declined and those of Caterpillar Inc. fell the most since Sept. 23 after earnings misses. Meanwhile, General Motors Co. rose after posting upbeat forecasts. Exxon Mobil Corp.’s fourth quarter earnings per share beat estimates and the firm posted full-year profit that was the highest on record.

Now that investors have had a chance to parse a slew of economic reports and earnings results to start the year — with much of it coming in as expected — they’re focusing on what the Fed might do in the latter half of 2023, says Shawn Cruz, head trading strategist at TD Ameritrade.

“So I think we know where our baseline is now and what’s driving markets is Fed policy going into the second half of this year,” he said in an interview.

Key events this week:

Eurozone Manufacturing PMI, CPI, unemployment, Wednesday
US construction spending, ISM Manufacturing, light vehicle sales, Wednesday
FOMC rate decision, Fed Chair Jerome Powell press conference, Wednesday
Earnings Wednesday include: Meta Platforms and Peloton Interactive
Eurozone ECB rate decision, President Christine Lagarde press conference, Thursday
UK BOE rate decision, Thursday
US factory orders, initial jobless claims, US durable goods, Thursday
Earnings Thursday include: Alphabet, Apple, Amazon, Qualcomm and Deutsche Bank and Santander
Eurozone S&amp;P Global Eurozone Services PMI, PPI, Friday
US unemployment, nonfarm payrolls, Friday
Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

The S&amp;P 500 rose 1.5% as of 4 p.m. New York time
The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.6%
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1%
The MSCI World index fell 0.9%
Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
The euro rose 0.2% to $1.0872
The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.2328
The Japanese yen rose 0.2% to 130.16 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin rose 1.5% to $23,090.48
Ether rose 1.9% to $1,586.45
Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined five basis points to 3.49%
Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 2.29%
Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 3.33%
Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.5% to $79.03 a barrel
Gold futures rose 0.2% to $1,943.10 an ounce

Stocks end January higher; QQQ slides after hours: Markets wrap

The Invesco QQQ Trust, a $153.6 billion exchange-traded fund tracking the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100, dropped in postmarket trading after Electronic Arts Inc. gave a forecast for net bookings that fell short of analysts’ estimates. Snap Inc. also fell after forecasting its first-ever quarterly revenue decline.

US stocks ended January with a gain, as investors cheered signs of labor costs easing and inflation cooling as they gear up for Wednesday’s Federal Reserve decision. Traders continued to grapple with earnings after the stock market closed.

The Invesco QQQ Trust, a $153.6 billion exchange-traded fund tracking the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100, dropped in postmarket trading after Electronic Arts Inc. gave a forecast for net bookings that fell short of analysts’ estimates. Snap Inc. also fell after forecasting its first-ever quarterly revenue decline.

However, Advanced Micro Devices Inc.’s better-than-expected sales forecast for the first quarter could still buoy tech shares, as investors brace for reports from Meta Platforms Inc. and Apple Inc. this week.

The S&amp;amp;P 500 still had its best month since October, as traders expect the Fed to slow its pace of interest-rate hikes. The Nasdaq 100 rallied the most this month since July. Treasuries gained, with the 10-year yield sliding to around 3.51%. It fell more than 30 basis points during January, the most since November. A dollar index dropped.

Investors are grappling with a flurry of economic data, earnings and rate decisions this week. Data on Tuesday showed prices in US housing market continued to cool, while another report highlighted consumer confidence unexpectedly falling. Hanging over everything is Wednesday’s Fed decision, with the central bank widely expected to raise rates by a quarter percentage point.

While Tuesday’s data from the Labor Department added to evidence that wage growth is slowing, it may still not be enough to sway the Fed. Investors will be watching for the tone officials set for future meetings. While Fed Chair Jerome Powell has repeatedly pushed back against hopes of rate cuts later this year, central bank officials could consider pausing rate hikes after their March meeting.

But the recent rally in stocks and bonds does not help the Fed’s bid to tighten financial conditions, said Jeff Muhlenkamp, portfolio manager at Muhlenkamp &amp;amp; Co.

Speaking about Powell’s presser Wednesday, he said “I expect that he will continue to try to talk the market into doing something that it is not currently doing.”

Investors also assessed a bevy of earnings reports on Tuesday. Shares of McDonald’s Corp. declined and those of Caterpillar Inc. fell the most since Sept. 23 after earnings misses. Meanwhile, General Motors Co. rose after posting upbeat forecasts. Exxon Mobil Corp.’s fourth quarter earnings per share beat estimates and the firm posted full-year profit that was the highest on record.

Now that investors have had a chance to parse a slew of economic reports and earnings results to start the year — with much of it coming in as expected — they’re focusing on what the Fed might do in the latter half of 2023, says Shawn Cruz, head trading strategist at TD Ameritrade.

“So I think we know where our baseline is now and what’s driving markets is Fed policy going into the second half of this year,” he said in an interview.

Key events this week:

Eurozone Manufacturing PMI, CPI, unemployment, Wednesday
US construction spending, ISM Manufacturing, light vehicle sales, Wednesday
FOMC rate decision, Fed Chair Jerome Powell press conference, Wednesday
Earnings Wednesday include: Meta Platforms and Peloton Interactive
Eurozone ECB rate decision, President Christine Lagarde press conference, Thursday
UK BOE rate decision, Thursday
US factory orders, initial jobless claims, US durable goods, Thursday
Earnings Thursday include: Alphabet, Apple, Amazon, Qualcomm and Deutsche Bank and Santander
Eurozone S&amp;amp;P Global Eurozone Services PMI, PPI, Friday
US unemployment, nonfarm payrolls, Friday
Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

The S&amp;amp;P 500 rose 1.5% as of 4 p.m. New York time
The Nasdaq 100 rose 1.6%
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.1%
The MSCI World index fell 0.9%
Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
The euro rose 0.2% to $1.0872
The British pound fell 0.2% to $1.2328
The Japanese yen rose 0.2% to 130.16 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin rose 1.5% to $23,090.48
Ether rose 1.9% to $1,586.45
Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined five basis points to 3.49%
Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 2.29%
Britain’s 10-year yield was little changed at 3.33%
Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.5% to $79.03 a barrel
Gold futures rose 0.2% to $1,943.10 an ounce

Major U.S. stock indexes closed over 1% higher on Tuesday as labor cost data encouraged investors about the Federal Reserve's aggressive approach to taming inflation a day ahead of the central bank's critical policy decision.

Investors also digested a full plate of earnings reports. Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) and United Parcel Service Inc (UPS.N) rose following their respective results, while Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N) and McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) ended weaker after their results.

The S&amp;P 500 tallied its first January increase since 2019, gaining 6.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 10.7% for the month - its biggest January percentage rise since 2001.

U.S. labor costs increased at their slowest pace in a year in the fourth quarter as wage growth slowed, Labor Department data showed. The U.S. central bank on Wednesday is expected to hike the Fed funds rate by 25 basis points, following a 2022 in which the Fed aggressively boosted rates to control soaring inflation.

The labor cost data is "indicating that maybe what the Fed has done is working and ... we’re rounding the corner on interest rate hikes," said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 368.95 points, or 1.09%, to 34,086.04, the S&amp;P 500 (.SPX) gained 58.83 points, or 1.46%, to 4,076.6 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 190.74 points, or 1.67%, to 11,584.55.

All 11 S&amp;P 500 sectors ended in positive territory, led by materials (.SPLRCM) and consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD), both up over 2%.

Aside from the Fed's rate decision on Wednesday, Chair Jerome Powell's news conference will be scrutinized for whether the rate-hiking cycle may be coming to a close and for signs of how long rates could stay elevated.

"Jerome Powell and team are probably looking at this easing of financial conditions that has happened over the last month, and we will see if they try to push back against it to any extent," said Mona Mahajan, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones. "I don’t think they would want markets to move up too far, too fast either."

In earnings news, Exxon Mobil shares rose 2.2% after the oil major posted a $56 billion net profit for 2022, setting not only a company record but a historic high for the Western oil industry.

United Parcel Service shares climbed 4.7% after its quarterly profit topped estimates, while General Motors Co (GM.N) shares jumped 8.3% after it forecast stronger-than-expected earnings for 2023.

Caterpillar shares sank 3.5% as the machinery maker's fourth-quarter earnings slid by 29%. McDonald's shares dropped 1.3% after the burger chain warned inflation will weigh on margins in 2023.

A busy week for markets will also include reports in coming days from Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) and Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), central bank meetings in Europe and the monthly U.S. employment report.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 4.91-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 3.12-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&amp;P 500 posted 10 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 100 new highs and 25 new lows.

About 12 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges, compared with the 11.4 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.

Wall Street gains over 1% after encouraging inflation data with Fed next

Investors also digested a full plate of earnings reports. Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) and United Parcel Service Inc (UPS.N) rose following their respective results, while Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N) and McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) ended weaker after their results.

Major U.S. stock indexes closed over 1% higher on Tuesday as labor cost data encouraged investors about the Federal Reserve's aggressive approach to taming inflation a day ahead of the central bank's critical policy decision.

Investors also digested a full plate of earnings reports. Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) and United Parcel Service Inc (UPS.N) rose following their respective results, while Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N) and McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) ended weaker after their results.

The S&amp;amp;P 500 tallied its first January increase since 2019, gaining 6.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 10.7% for the month - its biggest January percentage rise since 2001.

U.S. labor costs increased at their slowest pace in a year in the fourth quarter as wage growth slowed, Labor Department data showed. The U.S. central bank on Wednesday is expected to hike the Fed funds rate by 25 basis points, following a 2022 in which the Fed aggressively boosted rates to control soaring inflation.

The labor cost data is &quot;indicating that maybe what the Fed has done is working and ... we’re rounding the corner on interest rate hikes,&quot; said Peter Tuz, president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) rose 368.95 points, or 1.09%, to 34,086.04, the S&amp;amp;P 500 (.SPX) gained 58.83 points, or 1.46%, to 4,076.6 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) added 190.74 points, or 1.67%, to 11,584.55.

All 11 S&amp;amp;P 500 sectors ended in positive territory, led by materials (.SPLRCM) and consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD), both up over 2%.

Aside from the Fed's rate decision on Wednesday, Chair Jerome Powell's news conference will be scrutinized for whether the rate-hiking cycle may be coming to a close and for signs of how long rates could stay elevated.

&quot;Jerome Powell and team are probably looking at this easing of financial conditions that has happened over the last month, and we will see if they try to push back against it to any extent,&quot; said Mona Mahajan, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones. &quot;I don’t think they would want markets to move up too far, too fast either.&quot;

In earnings news, Exxon Mobil shares rose 2.2% after the oil major posted a $56 billion net profit for 2022, setting not only a company record but a historic high for the Western oil industry.

United Parcel Service shares climbed 4.7% after its quarterly profit topped estimates, while General Motors Co (GM.N) shares jumped 8.3% after it forecast stronger-than-expected earnings for 2023.

Caterpillar shares sank 3.5% as the machinery maker's fourth-quarter earnings slid by 29%. McDonald's shares dropped 1.3% after the burger chain warned inflation will weigh on margins in 2023.

A busy week for markets will also include reports in coming days from Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) and Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), central bank meetings in Europe and the monthly U.S. employment report.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 4.91-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 3.12-to-1 ratio favored advancers.

The S&amp;amp;P 500 posted 10 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 100 new highs and 25 new lows.

About 12 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges, compared with the 11.4 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.

Major U.S. stock indexes sank on Monday, weighed down by declines in technology and other megacap shares, as investors looked toward a major week of events including central bank meetings and a slew of earnings reports.

The heavyweight tech sector (.SPLRCT) dropped 1.9% while energy (.SPNY) shed 2.3%, the biggest drop among the S&amp;P 500 sectors. Shares of Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) and Google parent Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), which are due to post results later this week, all slumped.

More than 100 S&amp;P 500 companies are expected to report results this week, which also includes central bank meetings in the United States and Europe and closely watched U.S. employment data.

“The market has had a big run and the trading is a bit more cautious heading into a week which likely will be an inflection point for the overall market,” said Keith Lerner, co-chief investment officer at Truist Advisory Services.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 260.99 points, or 0.77%, to 33,717.09, the S&amp;P 500 (.SPX) lost 52.79 points, or 1.30%, to 4,017.77 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) dropped 227.90 points, or 1.96%, to 11,393.81.

U.S. Treasury yields rose, providing another pressure point for tech shares that have otherwise rebounded to start the year after a rough 2022.

Despite Monday's declines, the S&amp;P 500 remained on track to post its biggest January gain since 2019.

The U.S. central bank is seen hiking the Fed funds rate by 25 basis points at the end of its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, following a 2022 in which the Fed aggressively boosted rates to control soaring inflation.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell's news conference will be scrutinized for whether the rate-hiking cycle may be coming to a close and for signs of how long rates could stay elevated.

“It’s probably one of the most important meetings since the whole thing began," said Sameer Samana, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. "Unless the Fed extends that timeline meaningfully from what the market expects, which is that the Fed will be done in the next meeting or two, this may end up marking the pause, so to speak.”

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank is expected to deliver another large rate hike on Thursday.

Investors are also focused on earnings reports, amid concerns the economy may be facing a recession. With more than 140 companies having reported so far, S&amp;P 500 earnings are expected to have fallen 3% in the fourth quarter compared with the prior-year period, according to Refinitiv IBES.

In company news, shares of Johnson &amp; Johnson (JNJ.N) fell 3.7% after the healthcare giant's strategy to use bankruptcy to resolve the multibillion-dollar litigation over claims its talc products cause cancer was rejected by a federal appeals court.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 2.40-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.08-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

The S&amp;P 500 posted 5 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 67 new highs and 20 new lows.

About 10.6 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges, compared with the 11.2 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.

Tech, megacaps drag Wall Street to lower close as big market week kicks off

The heavyweight tech sector (.SPLRCT) dropped 1.9% while energy (.SPNY) shed 2.3%, the biggest drop among the S&P 500 sectors. Shares of Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) and Google parent Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), which are due to post results later this week, all slumped.

Major U.S. stock indexes sank on Monday, weighed down by declines in technology and other megacap shares, as investors looked toward a major week of events including central bank meetings and a slew of earnings reports.

The heavyweight tech sector (.SPLRCT) dropped 1.9% while energy (.SPNY) shed 2.3%, the biggest drop among the S&amp;amp;P 500 sectors. Shares of Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) and Google parent Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), which are due to post results later this week, all slumped.

More than 100 S&amp;amp;P 500 companies are expected to report results this week, which also includes central bank meetings in the United States and Europe and closely watched U.S. employment data.

“The market has had a big run and the trading is a bit more cautious heading into a week which likely will be an inflection point for the overall market,” said Keith Lerner, co-chief investment officer at Truist Advisory Services.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 260.99 points, or 0.77%, to 33,717.09, the S&amp;amp;P 500 (.SPX) lost 52.79 points, or 1.30%, to 4,017.77 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) dropped 227.90 points, or 1.96%, to 11,393.81.

U.S. Treasury yields rose, providing another pressure point for tech shares that have otherwise rebounded to start the year after a rough 2022.

Despite Monday's declines, the S&amp;amp;P 500 remained on track to post its biggest January gain since 2019.

The U.S. central bank is seen hiking the Fed funds rate by 25 basis points at the end of its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, following a 2022 in which the Fed aggressively boosted rates to control soaring inflation.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell's news conference will be scrutinized for whether the rate-hiking cycle may be coming to a close and for signs of how long rates could stay elevated.

“It’s probably one of the most important meetings since the whole thing began,&quot; said Sameer Samana, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. &quot;Unless the Fed extends that timeline meaningfully from what the market expects, which is that the Fed will be done in the next meeting or two, this may end up marking the pause, so to speak.”

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank is expected to deliver another large rate hike on Thursday.

Investors are also focused on earnings reports, amid concerns the economy may be facing a recession. With more than 140 companies having reported so far, S&amp;amp;P 500 earnings are expected to have fallen 3% in the fourth quarter compared with the prior-year period, according to Refinitiv IBES.

In company news, shares of Johnson &amp;amp; Johnson (JNJ.N) fell 3.7% after the healthcare giant's strategy to use bankruptcy to resolve the multibillion-dollar litigation over claims its talc products cause cancer was rejected by a federal appeals court.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 2.40-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.08-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

The S&amp;amp;P 500 posted 5 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 67 new highs and 20 new lows.

About 10.6 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges, compared with the 11.2 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions.

Name		Price	Change	Change%
HD	Home Depot	337.20	9.11	2.78
MSFT	Microsoft	259.75	7.00	2.77
AAPL	Apple	149.29	3.86	2.65
CRM	Salesforce.com	174.69	2.87	1.67
DIS	Walt Disney	110.29	0.90	0.82

Name		Price	Change	Change%
TRV	Travelers Companies	177.28	-7.95	-4.29
AMGN	Amgen	236.67	-9.75	-3.95
UNH	UnitedHealth	480.25	-16.75	-3.37
HON	Honeywell International	200.75	-5.97	-2.89
MRK	Merck & Co	104.69	-2.29	-2.14

Name		Price	Market Cap (in billion US $)
AAPL	Apple	149.29	2,364.19
MSFT	Microsoft	259.75	1,936.30
V	Visa	232.37	479.07
UNH	UnitedHealth	480.25	448.72
JNJ	J&J	163.89	428.49

Fund	AUM $	1 Y	3 Y	5 Y	Exp. Ratio
Franklin India Feeder - Franklin U.S. Opportunities Fund - Growth	2760.63	-15.68%	7.38%	11.32%	1.55
ICICI Prudential US Bluechip Equity Fund - Growth	2121.37	6.18%	15.41%	15.41%	2.21
ICICI Prudential NASDAQ 100 Index Fund - Direct Plan - Growth	457.49	-9.65%	0%	0%	0.5
IDFC US Equity Fund of Fund - Direct Plan - Growth	313.62	-3.47%	0%	0%	0.6
Nippon India US Equity Opportunities Fund - Growth	510.9	-7.78%	9.35%	11.96%	2.52
Aditya Birla Sun Life NASDAQ 100 FOF - Direct Plan - Growth	129.98	-10.26%	0%	0%	0.13
Motilal Oswal Nasdaq 100 ETF (MOSt Shares NASDAQ 100)	4830.3	-11.17%	14.88%	17.4%	0.58
DSP US Flexible Equity Fund - Direct Plan - Growth	722	5.04%	16.1%	13.97%	1.51
Edelweiss US Technology Equity FOF - Growth	1474.28	-16.65%	0%	0%	2.37
Edelweiss US Value Equity Offshore Fund - Regular Plan - Growth	87.74	8.28%	13.33%	11.62%	2.37

US Markets

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US Markets

20:20 Dow Jones 33,900.99 -191.97 (-0.56%)

20:05 Nasdaq 12,077.59 261.27 (2.21%)

20:20 S&P 500 4,156.57 37.36 (0.91%)

ADVANCE / DECLINE

20:20
Dow Jones 33,900.99 -191.97 (-0.56%)

20:05
Nasdaq 12,077.59 261.27 (2.21%)

20:20
S&P 500 4,156.57 37.36 (0.91%)