Investing.com — The S&P 500 closed higher on Monday, buoyed by tech stocks, giving stocks a strong start to the second half of the year ahead of the release of key monthly jobs data later this week.
As of 4 PM ET (8 PM GMT), they were up 50 points, or 0.1%, up 0.2% and up 0.8%.The major indexes got off to a strong start to the new week, which was shortened by Thursday’s Independence Day holiday, by adding to their gains from the previous quarter.
In the second quarter, and increased by 3.9% and 8.3%, respectively, while fell by 1.7%.
Attention on employment statistics and Powell
A series of labor market updates and further clues on monetary policy are due to be released this week ahead of the release of June data on Friday.
The monthly employment report is expected to provide more information about the labor market, whose resilience is also a key talking point for the Fed when it comes to cutting interest rates.
The release of the nonfarm payrolls data comes as the Federal Reserve is due to release the results of its June meeting. After signaling it now expects only one rate cut this year after previously expecting three, many are eager for new clues about the central bank’s monetary policy outlook.
Remarks from the Fed chairman are also on the agenda, and he is due to attend the European Central Bank’s annual forum in Portugal on Tuesday, but the Fed chair is not expected to offer any new views on monetary policy.
“Chairman Powell will likely continue to emphasize that while the latest data is a step in the right direction, Fed officials need to see some more favorable data before they feel confident enough to start cutting rates,” Deutsche Bank said in a recent note.
On the manufacturing front, data showed that U.S. manufacturing activity unexpectedly fell further into contraction territory in June to 48.5, below expectations of 49.2. A reading below 50 indicates contraction.
Boeing agrees to buy Spirit AeroSystems
Shares of aircraft maker Boeing (NYSE:) rose 3.4% after the company agreed to buy Spirit AeroSystems (NYSE:) for $4.7 billion, ending a long-running dispute that had been complicated by a deal Spirit had with Boeing’s main rival, Airbus (EPA:).
NVIDIA (NASDAQ:) shares pared intraday losses to trade up nearly 1% after Morgan Stanley said the company still has upside and raised its price target for the chipmaker, calling it “the most compelling story in AI semiconductors.”
Chewy (NYSE:) shares fell 6% after stock influencer Keith Gill, known as “Roaring Kitty,” revealed he owns a 6.6% stake in the pet supplies retailer, while GameStop (NYSE:) shares fell 4% after Gill was accused of securities fraud in a class action lawsuit involving the video game retailer.
Tesla tops second-quarter delivery report, NIO rises as June deliveries nearly double
Tesla (NASDAQ:) surged 6%, slightly beating second-quarter delivery expectations released on Tuesday. While second-quarter deliveries are likely to reflect weak demand for electric vehicles earlier this year, the electric car maker “did see a ‘small recovery’ in the second quarter, which should help Tesla get closer to market expectations of 435,000 units,” Wedbush said in a recent note.
In the EV space, NIO Inc Class A ADR (NYSE: ) rose 6% after reporting that EV deliveries last month totaled 21,209, nearly double the number delivered in the same period last year.
(Peter Nurse and Amber Warrick contributed to this article.)
