04:53 PM EDT, 10/28/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes closed higher Monday as traders awaited mega-cap technology earnings due later in the week, while oil prices slumped.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7% to 42,387.6, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.3% each to 5,823.5 and 18,567.2, respectively. Among sectors, financials led the gainers. Only energy and tech closer lower.
Tech giants Apple ( AAPL ) , Microsoft ( MSFT ) , Google ( GOOG ) parent Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL), Amazon.com ( AMZN ) , and Facebook parent Meta Platforms ( META ) are scheduled to report their latest quarterly financial results later this week.
Roughly 37% of S&P 500 companies have logged results so far, with quarterly profits up 3.6% from a year earlier on 3.9% revenue growth, Oppenheimer Asset Management said in a Monday note to clients.
In company news, 3M ( MMM ) shares rose 4.4%, the top gainer on the Dow and among the best on the S&P 500, as JPMorgan adjusted its price target on the stock to $165 from $160 and maintained its overweight rating.
McDonald's (MCD) was one of the best performers on the Dow, up 1.4%. On Sunday, the fast-food giant announced the planned return of its Quarter Pounder hamburgers in all restaurants this week after ruling out beef patties as the potential source of a recent E. coli outbreak.
Boeing ( BA ) announced an offering of 90 million common shares as the plane maker seeks to raise capital amid an ongoing labor strike that has adversely impacted its financial position. The company's shares fell 2.8%, the steepest decline on the Dow.
Centene ( CNC ) was the second-worst performer on the S&P 500, down 4%, as Jefferies adjusted its price target on the stock to $68 from $72 and maintained its hold rating.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil sank 5.3% to $68 a barrel. "Oil prices tumbled after Israel's retaliatory strike against Iran over the weekend bypassed oil and nuclear facilities and did not disrupt energy supplies," D.A. Davidson said in a Monday note to clients.
The US 10-year yield increased 4.6 basis points to 4.28%, while the two-year rate gained 3.5 basis points to 4.13%.
In economic news, Texas manufacturing activity unexpectedly improved into shallower contraction territory in October as production swung positive, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
Florida's housing affordability crisis has been exacerbated by rising property taxes fueled largely by pandemic-era migration and partly by intensifying climate disasters, Redfin (RDFN) said.
Gold was little changed at $2,755.10 per troy ounce, while silver increased 0.2% to $33.86 per ounce.
