Stocks

The US Dollar was very strong in October as rising odds of a Trump win started to get priced-in to markets, but can equities avoid a pullback if longer-term US rates continue to fly-higher?

S&P 500 futures pulled back again last week and as yields have continued their run-higher, there’s more potential for greater pullbacks ahead. Both the election and FOMC can bring impact on both fronts.

As we head deeper into a pivotal week and a half, several high-impact events could shape market direction. Investors are bracing for a series of earnings reports from major companies, often referred to as the "Magnificent 7" stocks, alongside the US monthly jobs report. These, combined with the US election on November 5, represent a series of risk events that could sway investor sentiment and thus impact the Dow.

As we head into a pivotal week and a half, several high-impact events could shape market direction. Investors are bracing for a series of earnings reports from major companies, often referred to as the "Magnificent 7" stocks, alongside the US monthly jobs report. These, combined with the US election on November 5, represent a series of risk events that could sway investor sentiment and thus impact the Dow forecast.

The S&P 500 has shown resilience, with US stocks rebounding on the back of strong earnings reports today. Positive surprises from major companies, such as Tesla, and strong performances in Europe are helping to stabilise sentiment.

Following the big tech-fuelled rally on Wall Street, the major US indices fell back, with the Nasdaq 100 being down about 2.5% at the time of writing. We had a number of weaker-than-expected US economic reports, in particular the ISM services PMI, while mixed technology earnings results and a more hawkish Federal Reserve and Bank of England policy decisions (and not forgetting the Bank of Japan), all weighed on risk appetite.

Today's gains were largely driven Nvidia’s 11% surge, as beaten-down chipmakers rallied. Meanwhile, softer economic data further boosted bets that the Fed will signal a rate cut in September, with the potential for two more cuts being priced in before the year is out. The Nasdaq 100 forecast remains bullish from a technical point of view with the index holding above a key bullish trend line.

While the tech sector's struggles have dominated headlines, it's crucial to note that the broader stock market's performance is not solely dependent on the "magnificent 7" group of tech stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average reached its fourth consecutive record high on Wednesday, driven by sector rotation. The small-cap Russell 2000 index has also posted substantial gains lately, spurred by last week's inflation report showing consumer prices falling to 3.0% year-over-year in June.

Supporting stocks today was news of another weaker-than-expected inflation report. Treasury yields fell as a slowdown in producer prices measure of inflation bolstered the case for the Federal Reserve to cut rates this year.

US technology stocks extended their gains shortly after the open on Wall Street, helping the Nasdaq 100 to add to Wednesday's surge to new record highs, before pulling back slightly on profit-taking ahead of Friday’s key US jobs report.

Ford (F -1.31%) electrified its sales in May with an increase of 11.2% compared to the same period last year. Spotify raises the price Tesla announced that it would increase the purchase of Nvidia's flagship AI chip from 35,000 to 85,000 by the end of this year.