Stock market today: Dow expected to slide on Columbus day as Alibaba and oil surge

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The stock market was mixed on Monday, with Columbus Day in the United States likely to be a quiet trading day, as Alibaba and Chinese tech stocks surged as investors wait for the earnings season to begin and key inflation data for the coming week.

Future for the

Dow Jones Industrial Average
showed a 60-point open lower after the index slipped 8 points on Friday to close at 34,746.

S&P 500
and

Nasdaq
reported a similar start.

U.S. bond markets are closed for the Columbus Day holiday while the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq remain open, but analysts expect much lower volumes on Monday and a calm day ahead. The S&P 500 recorded an average gain of 0.7% in Columbus Days dating back to 1991, compared to an average daily rise of 0.04%.

Investor attention remains focused on familiar themes, such as supply chain pressures on corporate earnings, a global energy crisis, inflation and the future of central bank stimulus.

Markets will be able to digest further updates on many of these topics over the coming week. The earnings season will start in earnest in the coming days, and a major inflation indicator, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), will be released on Wednesday with the final minutes from the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee.

“The coming week will focus on the US CPI release on Wednesday, but that could be a bit retrograde as energy has increased more recently and used car prices are on the rise again after a late summer fall that will likely be captured in this week’s outing, ”said Jim Reid, strategist at Deutsche Bank.

“Elsewhere, we have a potentially tougher US earnings season than last year,” added Reid. “In addition, a few minutes from the last [Federal Open Market Committee meeting] will also give clues to the final cone thinking on Wednesday. “

Investors will be watching closely the wave of corporate earnings ahead for the impact of rising energy prices and supply chain complications, but the first major groups to release results are the banks later. this week.

Bank of America

(BAC),

Citigroup

(VS),

Wells fargo

(WFC),

Morgan stanley

(MS), and

Goldman Sachs

(GS) all report Thursday or Friday, and analysts have noted that their outlook for 2022 would likely be more influential for stocks than economic data releases on the calendar.

But the minutes of the latest meeting of the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee, the central bank’s monetary policy body, will also grab attention, as the Fed considers slowing or cutting its monthly buying program. of assets. Most expect the Fed to announce a cut in November.

Abroad, in Tokyo

Nikkei 225
rose 1.6% as investor sentiment was bolstered by comments from new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that he did not plan to change the Japanese capital gains tax. The pan-European

Stoxx 600
was 0.2% lower.

In commodities markets, the price of oil surged, with continued futures for international benchmark Brent crude up more than 2% to over $ 84.10 a barrel, with U.S. oil likewise up to over $ 81.40.

Here are eight actions in motion on Monday

Ali Baba

(9988.HK) the share rose 7.9% in Hong Kong, with

Ali Baba

US listed equities (BABA) up 5.6% pre-market. It rallied around other Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong, while

Tencent

(0700.HK) increased by 3%,

Meituan

(3690.HK) jumped 8.4%,

Baidu

(BIDU) increased by 6.4%, and

JD.com

(JD) rose 5.4%.

UK retailer

Asos

(ASC.UK) sank 8.6% in London, after a profit warning for 2022 and the resignation of its CEO.

Danone

(BN.France) fell 1.2% in Paris, after the food group was downgraded by HSBC to not buy due to rising costs and supply chain issues.

Rio Tinto

(RIO) rose 1.9% in London, after the mining giant made progress in allowing access to Covid-19 vaccines for fly-in-fly-out workers in Western Australia.

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