S&P 500 is little changed ahead of latest inflation data: Live updates

The three major indexes were mixed entering Monday’s final hour of trading.

The S&P 500 was near flat shortly after 3 p.m. ET. The Dow added 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.2%.

— Alex Harring

The equal-weighted S&P 500 Index hit an all-time high last week, surpassing its previous record from two years ago. The equal-weighted index has gained about 4% in the past month, where as the flagship market cap-weighted S&P 500 has ticked up just 1.7%.

The divergence is due to the shifting market leadership as some of the biggest technology companies resumed their retreat, while small caps outperformed.

“This past week was an indication that there’s a potential shift brewing in the market,” said Mark Hackett, Nationwide’s chief of investment research. “It was the third down week since October, the Magnificent 7 has proven that it is not nearly as powerful as it once was, and volatility has begun to increase.”

— Yun Li

These are the companies making headlines in midday trading:

• Bally’s — Shares soared more than 25% after hedge fund Standard General made a buyout proposal valuing the casino operator at $15 per share. That’s 41.2% higher than where the stock finished last week.
• Oracle — Shares added 1.6% ahead of the software giant’s fiscal third-quarter earnings report due after the bell. Analysts polled by FactSet are expecting earnings per share of $1.38 and revenue of $13.29 billion. Oracle’s stock is up 8% year to date.
• Nvidia — The AI computing stock declined 1.2% on Monday, extending losses from Friday’s session when Nvidia dropped more than 5% in its worst trading day since late May. Semiconductor stocks slid as a group on Monday. Advanced Micro Devices dropped 4.2%. Lam Research slid by 3%.

Read the full list here.

— Sarah Min

Materials stocks in the S&P 500 were able to break from the index’s wobbly trading on Monday.

The broad index flickered around its flatline in afternoon trading. But the materials sector, which was the best performer of the 11 that comprise the benchmark, added nearly 1%

Albemarle led materials higher with a jump of more than 5%. Newmont was the next top performer, adding more than 3.5%.

To be sure, some materials names still struggled in the session. Steel Dynamics and Nucor were the worst performers, with both down around 1.3%.

— Alex Harring

The stock market may be in a bumpy transitionary period, but the rally should continue in the intermediate term, according to Wolfe Research.

Strategist Chris Senyek said in a note to clients Monday that stocks could struggle in the near term but that investors shouldn’t panic at the first signs of a downturn.

“Following a massive run, stocks look ripe for a pullback. While we see more volatility ahead, a sustained downturn looks unlikely unless (1) incoming data starts to signal a meaningful slowdown, and/or (2) inflation looks sticky enough to keep the Fed from cutting quickly & deeply, if necessary,” Senyek said.

Under the surface, that pullback could really be a rotation toward stocks that underperformed in 2023.

“We’d continue to own Big Tech names still seeing strong upward [earnings] revisions. However, we expect market breadth to broaden further with several ‘forgotten cyclicals’ outperforming as well, including short-cycle industrials, analog semis and capital markets. Small caps should also start to work,” Senyek said.

— Jesse Pound

The Dow slipped in Monday’s session, hurt by Boeing and a handful of other laggards.

The blue-chip index ticked lower by around 0.1% in afternoon trading. But less than half of the 30 stocks in the index were on pace for losses.

Part of that downward momentum came from Boeing, which dropped more than 3%. Amazon, IBM, Caterpillar and American Express were the next biggest losers, with each down more than 1.5%.

On the other hand, Nike and UnitedHealth were the best performers, with each stock rising more than 2%.

— Alex Harring

Stocks whose performance is tied to the price of bitcoin rose on Monday after the cryptocurrency climbed to another all-time high.

Crypto exchange Coinbase advanced 3.5%. Bitcoin proxy Microstrategy jumped 9% after the company purchased another roughly 12,000 bitcoins for more than $821 million in cash, according to a filing.

Miners were mixed, however. Marathon Digital lost 3.75% and CleanSpark fell 4%. Meanwhile, Iris Energy gained 2.6% and Riot Platforms was flat. These were some of the biggest stock market gainers in February. All but CleanSpark, one of the lower-cost operators of the group, have turned lower for March as investors digest the upcoming Bitcoin halving event, when mining companies’ revenue will be slashed.

— Tanaya Macheel

Eli Lilly started the week down 4% Monday, pushing its one-week loss to more than 7%.

The drug maker has been one of the best performers this year, still up about 25% partly on enthusiasm about its weight loss drug. The swift rally pushed Eli Lilly’s market cap above $700 billion briefly, making it the eighth biggest company in the U.S.

The S&P 500 has recently struggled on the first day of new trading weeks — and that trend appears to be continuing on Monday.

The broad index was last down about 0.5%. If that holds through closing bell, it would mark the sixth straight day that began a new trading week and ended in the red.

This trend marks a turn from 2023, when the S&P 500 finished more than three out of every four Mondays with gains, according to Bespoke Investment Group.

— Alex Harring

Bally’s shares surged more than 23% Monday after Standard General’s buyout proposal of the casino operator for $15 per share.

It’s down more than 5% in 2024.

Some key stocks tied to artificial intelligence tumbled in Monday’s premarket.

Super Micro Computer dropped more than 3% before the bell, while Nvidia shed more than 1%. The Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF (AIQ) as a whole slipped around 0.2%.

That retreat comes as investors have questioned how much farther many of these names can go after the technology’s increased attention catalyzed monster rallies.

— Alex Harring

These are some of the stocks making the biggest moves before the bell:

Read the full list of stocks on the move here.

— Samantha Subin

Despite trading up earlier in Monday’s premarket trading, Nvidia moved into negative territory. The artificial intelligence stock was last down around 1%.

Here’s how the stock performed this morning:

Last week was tough for the three major indexes.

The blue-chip Dow fell 0.9% last week, its worst performance in a week since October. The broad S&P 500 lost 0.3%, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite tumbled 1.2%.

— Alex Harring

Japan’s Nikkei 225 led losses in Asia on Monday, falling over 2% and dragged by tech stocks.

According to Factset, semiconductor equipment manufacturer Advantest Corp was the largest loser on the index, down 6.32%. This was followed by counterpart Screen Holdings, which slipped 5.75%.

Other names on the top losers list also include Softbank Group, which declined 5.19% as well as Kawasaki Heavy Industries, which fell 4.16%.

Japan posted a revised fourth-quarter GDP growth of 0.4% on an annualized basis, averting a technical recession.

This comes after earlier estimates had shown that Japan’s economy shrank 0.4% in the fourth quarter on an annualized basis, following a revised 3.3% slump in the third quarter, fulfilling the definition of a technical recession.

A positive GDP reading could clear the way for the Bank of Japan to raise rates sooner rather than later.

Read the full story here.

— Lim Hui Jie

China’s consumer price index climbed 0.7% year-on-year in February, marking the first time in four months that the country’s inflation rate rose.

The figure is a marked reversal from the 0.8% fall in January, which also was China’s largest rate of deflation since September 2009. It also beat the 0.3% rise that economists polled by Reuters were expecting.

On a month on month basis, the CPI rose 1%, higher than the 0.7% expected by the Reuters poll and compared to the 0.3% rise seen in January.

Separately, the country’s producer price index slipped 2.7% year-on-year, more than the 2.5% fall in January.

— Lim Hui Jie

The February’s consumer price index coming out Tuesday is expected to show prices rose by 0.4% on a monthly basis, and 3.1% year over year, according to economists polled by Dow Jones. That’s compared to increases of 0.3% and 3.1%, respectively, in the prior reading.

Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, is set to show a 0.3% increase on the month, and a 3.7% rise from the year-ago period, consensus estimates show. Previously, it had risen 0.4% and 3.9% on the month and year, respectively.

— Sarah Min

U.S. stock futures were little changed Sunday night.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose by 19 points, or 0.05%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 0.04% and 0.11%, respectively.

— Sarah Min