Stocks On Track For Third Green Session, Palantir Ignites Rally In Chipmakers, Commodities Rebound: What's Driving Markets Monday?

The stock market is poised to mark a third consecutive session of gains, with major indices all trading in the green during midday trading in New York on Monday, as traders continue to react positively to quarterly earnings and the Federal Reserve’s unexpectedly dovish stance in its latest meeting.

For Q1 2024, 80% of S&P 500 companies have disclosed actual results, with over three quarters of them surpassing EPS estimates and 61% exceeding revenue estimates, according to FactSet.

The S&P 500 rose by 0.4%, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 showing a similar daily surge. Small caps, as measured by the iShares Russell 2000 ETF Trust IWM, outperformed large caps, rising by 1.2%.

Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR surged over 6% ahead of its Q1 results, set to be released after the market closes. The broader chipmaker industry, as tracked by the iShares Semiconductor ETF SOXX, rose 1.7%, showing solid gains.

Commodities performed strongly overall, with natural gas prices surging nearly 6% to a 4-month high. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light crude oil rose by 1%, on track to break a 5-day losing streak.

Crude oil faced notable volatility around 12:47 EDT as gains were initially trimmed on news of Hamas accepting a ceasefire proposal, but then it partially recovered those losses after Israeli Forces stated that Hamas had agreed to a modified version not accepted by Israel.

Gold and silver also saw robust demand, with gold up over 0.7% and silver rallying about 3%.

Bitcoin BTC/USD softened 0.8%, with prices retracing after testing the 50-day moving average resistance at $65,500-$65,900 levels.

Monday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY rose 0.6% to $514.40, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA rose 0.2% to $387.45 and the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ rose 0.6% to $437.98, according to Benzinga Pro data. 

Sector-wise, the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE outperformed, up 1.3%, followed by the Industrials Select Sector SPDR Fund XLI, up 0.8%. The Consumer Staples Sector SPDR Fund XLP was the major laggard, down 0.4%.

Monday’s Stock Movers

• Tyson Foods Inc. TSN fell over 7%, after the company missed the Street’s revenue estimates last quarter.
• Other companies reacting to earnings were Loews Corp. L up 1.6%, CNA Financial Corp. CNA up 0.5%, Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. JLL up 4%, Freshpet Inc. FRPT up over 6%, Brookfield Renewable Corp. BEPC up 3%, and Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corp. IART down 21%,
• Gold and silver miners rallied sharply Monday, on the heels of surging metal prices. The VanEck Gold Miners ETF GDX was up 2.4%, while the Global X Silver Miners ETF SIL rocketed 2.9%. Notable outperformers for the industry were Coeur Mining Inc. CDE, Hecla Mining Company HL and Fortuna Silver Mines Inc FSM all screening a 5% surge.
• Shares of Paramount Global PARA rose over 5% following a report by The New York Times on Sunday, indicating that the special committee approved initiating deal discussions with Sony and Apollo.
• GameStop Corp. GME fell over 12% after it rallied by about 50% over the last two sessions.
• Companies reporting after the close include ADTRAN Holdings, Inc. ADTN, Coty Inc. COTY, Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. FIS, FMC Corporation FMC, Lucid Group, Inc. LCID, Lumentum Holdings Inc. LITE, Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR, Microchip Technology Incorporated MCHP, The Williams Companies, Inc. WMB, Vornado Realty Trust VNO.

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Image generated using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.