U.S. Stocks Close Mixed After Choppy Ride

U.S. stocks ended on a mixed note on Monday after a choppy session as investors largely stayed cautious, looking ahead to some key earnings updates, the GDP data and the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement.

The Fed, which is scheduled to announce its interest rate decision on Wednesday, is widely expected to announce another 75-basis points hike. CME Group’s FedWatch tool is currently indicating a 77.5 percent chance of a 75 basis point interest rate hike and a 22.5 percent chance of a 100 basis point rate hike.

Investors also look ahead to data on consumer confidence, new home sales, durable goods orders, second quarter GDP and personal income and spending, due during the course of this week.

The major averages ended mixed. The Dow ended with a gain of 90.75 points or 0.28 percent at 31,990.04, and the S&P 500 settled with a gain of 5.21 points or 0.13 percent at 3,966.84, while the Nasdaq finished with a loss of 51.45 points or 0.43 percent at 11,782.67.

Technology stocks struggled for direction, continued to be weighed down by weak earnings update from Snap last week.

Shares of Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Apple and Alphabet all closed in negative territory despite coming off the day’s lows.

Energy stocks fared well as crude oil prices moved up sharply. Chevron climbed nearly 3%. Marathon Oil, APA, and Diamondback Energy also ended notably higher.

Shares of Newmont Mining Corp plunged nearly 14 percent after quarterly earnings fell short of expectations. The company’s earnings came in at $387 million, or $0.49 per share, compared with $650 million, or $0.81 per share, in last year’s second quarter.

Travelers Companies, Caterpillar, UnitedHealth, Amgen and Coca-Cola posted strong gains.

Salesforce.com ended lower by nearly 3 percent, and McDonalds drifted down by about 1.4 percent.

Other Markets

In overseas trading, Asian stocks ended broadly lower on Monday as weak business activity data from Europe and the United States coupled with anxiety about China’s property market added to worries about a recession.

European stocks turned in a mixed performance with investors looking ahead to corporate earnings updates and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy announcement, due on Wednesday.

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