In a notable turn of events, US benchmark equity indexes saw an uptick after midday on Monday, reflecting investor optimism as the market gears up for several key corporate earnings releases scheduled for later in the week. The Nasdaq Composite experienced a significant increase, rising 1.6% to reach 18,003.8 intraday, while the S&P 500 followed suit with a 1% gain, reaching 5,562.9.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average also advanced, albeit modestly, by 0.2% to 40,383.8. Among the sectors, technology emerged as the frontrunner in terms of gains, showcasing strength in investor sentiment. Conversely, energy and consumer staples reflected less favorable performance, dipping into the red. Notably, several companies are positioned to report their latest quarterly financial results after Monday's market close.
Cadence Design Systems ($CDNS), Nucor ($NUE), and Brown & Brown ($BRO) are among those in the spotlight. As the week progresses, attention will also turn to prominent players such as Google parent Alphabet ($GOOGL), Tesla ($TSLA), Visa ($V), AbbVie ($ABBV), Coca-Cola ($KO), International Business Machines ($IBM), AT&T ($T), 3M ($MMM), and Charter Communications ($CHTR), all of whom are scheduled to unveil their results. In terms of the bond market, the US 10-year and two-year yields both witnessed an increase, climbing 2.3 basis points to reach 4.26% and 4.53%, respectively, during intraday trading. Shifting focus to individual company performance, Iqvia ($IQV) shares stood out with a remarkable 6.6% increase, marking it as the top performer on the S&P 500.
This bullish momentum followed the company’s revised full-year earnings outlook, which was positively influenced by a strong showing in the second quarter. In contrast, Truist Financial's (TFC) second-quarter results revealed a decline compared to the previous year, largely due to accounting gains on a unit sale being offset by losses in securities.
However, the company's shares still experienced a positive uptick of 3.5%. On a more challenging note, Verizon Communications' ($VZ) second-quarter revenue fell short of expectations, attributed to reduced upgrade volumes for wireless equipment. This setback drove the telecom giant's stock down by 6.2%, marking the steepest decline on the Dow and the second-worst on the S&P 500. CrowdStrike Holdings ($CRWD) registered the largest drop on both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, plummeting nearly 13% following an 11% dip on the previous Friday.
This decline raised concerns regarding the cybersecurity company’s financial outlook amid a recent global technology outage, as noted in a Monday report by Morgan Stanley. In the long-term perspective, the brokerage suggested that CrowdStrike may be able to mitigate "reputational damage" resulting from these events. Meanwhile, West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices remained stable at $80.15 a barrel during the intraday session.
Market participants also monitored developments on the geopolitical front, including President Joe Biden's recent decision to withdraw from the presidential race, endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party's nominee. In the commodities market, gold prices dipped 0.2% to settle at $2,395.10 per troy ounce, while silver experienced a slight decrease of 0.1%, trading at $29.27 per ounce..