US close: Stocks start week with a positive finish

Wall Street marked its first positive closing in four sessions on Monday, as market participants turned their eyes to the forthcoming inflation data and girding themselves for earnings season.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.62% at 33,944.40 points, while the S&P 500 rose 0.24% to finish at 4,409.53.

The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite added 0.18%, settling at 13,685.48.

In currency markets, the dollar saw modest losses against major currencies, last falling 0.09% against sterling to trade at 77.68p.

It lost 0.08% against the euro, making one dollar worth 90.83 euro cents, and slipped by 0.13% versus the Japanese yen, changing hands at 141.13.

“Friday’s gloomy atmosphere has faded to an extent today and stocks have attempted to regain some lost ground,” said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp earlier.

“But it promises to be a choppy week with US CPI and then the start of earnings season on the calendar.

“After a mixed start to July, investors are certainly hoping for some better news, but as Friday’s payroll data shows a recession is still some way off, and as a result more rate hikes are still coming down the line.”

US inventories stall, China producer prices slump, and eurozone investor sentiment tumbles

On the economic front, fresh government data on inventories reported earlier showed that sales during May slipped by 0.2%, following a decline in wholesale inventories in the prior month.

The inventory-to-sales ratio, which measures the amount of time it would take a company to sell off all goods stored in warehouses, climbed slightly to 1.41 months, up from 1.4 months in April, and significantly higher than the ratio of 1.3 at the same time last year.

Meanwhile, Chinese economic concerns were exacerbated as producer prices took another hit in June.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that producer price inflation fell sharply by 5.4% year-on-year in June, surpassing expectations of a 5% drop and marking the worst slump since December 2015.

The consumer price index also slowed, coming in flat at 0% year-on-year in June from 0.2% in May, which fell short of expectations for it to remain steady.

That represented the lowest reading since February 2021, stoking fears of deflation.

Investor confidence in the eurozone meanwhile also took a hit, with the Sentix investor sentiment index tumbling more than expected to -22.5 in July, from -17.0 in June and well below the consensus estimate of -17.9.

The reading marked the most pessimistic investor sentiment since November last year.

Indices for both the current situation and expectations took a hit as well, registering at -20.5 and -24.5 respectively.

Of particular note was Germany, where the headline Sentix index saw a sharp drop from -20.3 in June to -28.4 in July, its lowest point since November last year as well.

Icahn Enterprises and Cava Group lead gains

In equities, shares in Icahn Enterprises - the diversified holding company controlled by billionaire investor Carl Icahn - surged 20.2%.

The sharp rise came on the heels of a Wall Street Journal report indicating the company had finalised revised loan agreements with its banks.

It said the new arrangements would disentangle Icahn's personal loans from the trading price of Icahn Enterprises.

Elsewhere, Mediterranean-style fast-casual restaurant chain Cava Group closed the day with an 11.06% gain.

The recent public-market debutant, which made its IPO in mid-June, saw its stock rise as analysts initiated coverage.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

Dow Jones - Risers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $32.74 2.79%
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) $224.73 2.78%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $310.28 2.47%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $29.79 2.37%
Salesforce.Com Inc. (CRM) $212.81 1.54%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $248.81 1.48%
Nike Inc. (NKE) $105.78 1.26%
American Express Co. (AXP) $171.71 1.12%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $154.88 0.91%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $109.96 0.88%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $35.14 -2.12%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $331.83 -1.60%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $169.07 -1.50%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $188.61 -1.09%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $59.17 -0.75%
Walt Disney Co. (DIS) $88.10 -0.61%
3M Co. (MMM) $97.12 -0.10%
Dowdupont Inc. (DWDP) $0.00 0.00%
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) $148.80 0.04%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $159.32 0.16%

S&P 500 - Risers

Hanesbrands Inc. (HBI) $4.53 5.84%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $107.09 5.69%
Bread Financial Holdings, Inc. (BFH) $33.24 5.66%
MGM Resorts International (MGM) $45.46 5.59%
Coty Inc. Class A (COTY) $13.10 5.22%
Ralph Lauren Corp (RL) $128.75 5.06%
Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $521.21 4.66%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $343.70 4.30%
Fortinet Inc. (FTNT) $77.86 4.26%
PVH Corp. (PVH) $86.89 3.93%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Fiserv Inc. (FI) $0.00 -100.00%
FMC Corp. (FMC) $92.63 -11.15%
CenturyLink Inc. (LUMN) $2.06 -5.94%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $7.08 -2.75%
Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $116.87 -2.72%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $116.45 -2.54%
Mosaic Company (MOS) $35.83 -2.53%
Ball Corp (BALL) $56.03 -2.49%
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $70.10 -2.44%
Altria Group Inc. (MO) $44.95 -2.24%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $107.09 5.69%
Idexx Laboratories Inc. (IDXX) $521.21 4.66%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $343.70 4.30%
Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) $69.28 3.73%
Broadcom Inc. (AVGO) $877.73 3.66%
Intuit Inc. (INTU) $464.33 3.60%
Sirius XM Holdings Inc (SIRI) $4.61 3.60%
Skyworks Solutions Inc. (SWKS) $112.23 3.59%
Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) $2,728.83 3.49%
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $445.72 3.35%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Fiserv Inc. (FI) $0.00 -100.00%
Mercadolibre Inc. (MELI) $1,087.15 -5.78%
Dish Network Corp. (DISH) $7.08 -2.75%
Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG) $116.87 -2.72%
Alphabet Inc. Class A (GOOGL) $116.45 -2.54%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $127.13 -2.04%
Tesla Inc (TSLA) $269.61 -1.76%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) $331.83 -1.60%
Apple Inc. (AAPL) $188.61 -1.09%
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $421.80 -0.76%