US stocks hang near their record heights
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) after the opening bell in New York, New York, Monday. EPA-Yonhap
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks are drifting near their record heights on Monday, ahead of a week where profit reports from the nation’s biggest retailers could give a hint about how shoppers are dealing with high inflation and a slowing job market.
The S&P 500 slipped 0.1 percent but remains near its all-time high set Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 209 points, or 0.4 percent, as of noon Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.2 percent higher.
Wall Street has run to records in large part because profits are booming for U.S. companies. Those in the S&P 500 index are on track to deliver growth of roughly 50 percent for earnings per share in the spring from a year earlier, according to FactSet. That’s much better than analysts expected and would be the best since five years ago, when the economy was erupting out of the chasm created by the COVID pandemic.
Nearly all the companies in the S&P 500 have turned in their profit reports for the spring. Still to come are big retailers, including reports this week from Home Depot, Target and Walmart.
They’re facing pressure. Their customers’ incomes may be turning iffier after U.S. employers surprisingly cut more jobs last month than they added. At the same time, their customers are continuing to see bills rise quickly as inflation remains much higher than anyone would like.
A report last week said that shoppers surprisingly spent less at U.S. retailers last month than in June, and CEOs for retailers could give color this week on what they’re seeing.
In the meantime, the wait continues for what the war with Iran will do with oil prices. The price for a barrel of Brent crude rose 0.7 percent to $89.13 Monday in what counts as a relatively modest move compared with its jagged recent swings.
Brent zigzagged between $72 and $102 last month as hopes rose and fell that the United States and Iran could reach a deal that would allow oil tankers to freely exit the Persian Gulf again.
In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked higher following their own big recent moves. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.70 percent from 4.68 percent late Friday following a report showing stronger-than-expected growth in manufacturing in New York state.
The 10-year yield has shot up from 3.97 percent before the war with Iran, largely because higher oil prices raised the pressure on inflation and upped the probability that the Federal Reserve will have to hike interest rates.
Higher rates could keep a lid on inflation, but they do so by intentionally slowing the economy and making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money. The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate has already jumped near its highest level in a year because of the rise in the 10-year Treasury yield.
Reports last week, though, showed that inflation last month was not as bad as earlier in the summer. That raised hopes that the Fed could wait until later in the year before having to decide whether to raise its main interest rate.
Usually around this time of year, anticipation is building on Wall Street to hear from the head of the Federal Reserve about where interest rates may be heading. But the Fed's new chairman, Kevin Warsh, may give little insight at this year's economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, at the end of this month, according to Thierry Wizman, a strategist at Macquarie Group
Warsh has been adamant about giving Wall Street less guidance about the Fed's plans for interest rates.
On Wall Street, trading was relatively quiet.
L3Harris Technologies fell 4.4 percent after the defense company said Christopher Kubasik stepped down as its CEO and chairman following “certain conduct by Kubasik that was not consistent with the values of the Company.” It gave few details but said the conduct was not related to its financial reporting, controls, customer relationships or operational performance.
Alphabet ticked 0.6 percent lower even though Berkshire Hathaway said it increased its investment in Google’s parent company, along with several homebuilders. Berkshire built a reputation for buying stocks at affordable prices under its former CEO, famed investor Warren Buffett.
Constellation Brands fell 6.3 percent after Berkshire said it sold all its holdings in the seller of Modelo beer and Robert Mondavi wine.
In stock markets abroad, indexes dipped in Europe following a stronger finish in Asia.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 0.7 percent after a report said Japan's economy grew at a slower pace in the April-June quarter than economists expected. Indexes jumped 1.3 percent in Hong Kong and 1.4 percent in Shanghai for some of the world’s biggest moves.