Dow Jones, S&P 500 score 6th record close of 2024, bolstered by Treasury funding update in pivotal week for markets

By Frances Yue and William Watts

Investors face Fed meeting, tech earnings and jobs data

U.S. stocks ended higher on Monday, after the Treasury Department said it expects to borrow less in the first quarter than earlier anticipated and as investors await a barrage of earnings.

What happened

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA rose 224.02 points or 0.6% to close at 38,333.45, its sixth record close in 2024, according to data from Dow Jones Market Data. The S&P 500 SPX went up 36.96 points or 0.8% to end at 4,927.93, its sixth record close of 2024.The Nasdaq Composite COMP gained 172.68 points or 1.1% to finish at 15,628.04, its highest close since January 3, 2022.

Stocks ended Friday with a third straight weekly gain. The Dow logged its fifth record close since the end of 2023, while the S&P 500 finished a 10th of a percentage point below its all-time closing high and the Nasdaq Composite ended less than 4% from its record close set on Nov. 19, 2021.

What drove the market

Stocks rallied in afternoon trade after the Treasury Department said it expects to borrow $760 billion in the first quarter, which is $55 billion lower than previously estimated.

The new funding update led to a rally in the bond market, which bled into stocks, according to Kent Engelke, chief economic strategist at Capitol Securities Management. "Everything is about interest rates," he said in a call.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield BX:TMUBMUSD10Y was 7 basis points lower at 4.089% on Monday, after hitting a 16-year high in October on concerns about heavy Treasury supply and the potential for higher Fed rates for longer.

Investors on Monday also were bracing from a barrage of corporate earnings. It's a huge week for earnings with results due out of Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN) and Meta Platforms (META).

Investors also are preparing for a Fed interest-rate decision Wednesday and jobs market data Friday.

See: Stock-market rally faces Fed, tech earnings and jobs data in make-or-break week

If earnings exceed expectations, there's a strong probability that stocks could go even higher, Engelke said.

"This could be the greatest week for 'event risk' in many years. I suppose we could also call it 'event reward,' who knows?" technical analyst Mark Arbeter, president of Arbeter Investments, wrote in a client note.

Don't miss: The busiest and most crucial week for fourth-quarter earnings is here. These 5 companies will do the heavy lifting.

There are also geopolitical worries after an attack killed three U.S. soldiers and injured 34 more in Jordan. Oil futures (CL00) closed lower, below $77 a barrel, while gold (GC00) rose.

Meanwhile, with the S&P 500, S&P 100 OEX and Nasdaq-100 tracking QQQs QQQ at all-time highs, there's no "chart resistance or overhead supply above current prices," Arbeter wrote.

"In other words, everyone invested in these indices is sitting with a profit," Arbeter wrote. "Most of the great stock market gains come after indexes and individual stocks break out to ATH's (all-time highs). These mega cap indices have created what we call a platform from which to march higher."

At the same time, it would be remiss not to express worries about overbought technical conditions, divergent momentum, overbought breadth and some sentiment indicators "that are certainly stretched," he said.

Companies in focus

Shares of SoFi Technologies Inc. SOFI ended up 20.2% after the financial-technology company reported its first-ever profit, fueled by surging lending volumes.Amazon.com Inc. AMZN and Roomba parent iRobot Corp. IRBT said Monday they are scrapping their planned acquisition agreement because they believe there's no path to regulatory approval in the European Union. Shares of iRobot fell 8.8%.Shares of REV Group Inc. REVG gained 11.5% after the maker of electric- and hydrogen-powered commercial vehicles said it would pay out a special dividend with the cash generated by strategic actions, including winding down its transit bus manufacturing business.Tesla Inc. TSLA expects capital spending to exceed $10 billion in 2024 and to range from $8 billion to $10 billion for each of the following two fiscal years, according to the electric-vehicle maker's 10-K annual report filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission published on Monday. Tesla shares were up 4.2%.

- Steve Goldstein contributed

-Frances Yue -William Watts

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01-29-24 1638ET

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