Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] Stocks hit the ground running to start the week, with the S&P 500 (+1.0%), Nasdaq Composite (+1.2%), and DJIA (+0.8%) taking back a meaningful chunk of the previous week's losses. The Nasdaq Composite closed above its 200-day moving average (22,191.85), which it closed below last week. 

The market was supported by some relief in oil prices today after a surge past the $100 per barrel mark weighed heavily on stocks last week. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration plans to announce a multi-country coalition that will escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, with the announcement to come as soon as this week. While oil price action was still relatively choppy today, optimism that shipping through the Strait of Hormuz could meaningfully pick up in the near term helped crude oil futures settle today's session $5.26 lower (-5.4%) at $93.35 per barrel. 

Strength was broad throughout the session, with all eleven S&P 500 sectors finishing higher. 

The information technology sector (+1.4%) led the advance, supported by solid gains across semiconductor names. NVIDIA (NVDA 183.19, +2.94, +1.63%) garnered a fair share of attention today as the company's CEO, Jensen Huang, delivered his keynote address at NVIDIA's GTC conference. Notably, Mr. Huang said that last year he saw $500 billion of purchase orders for Blackwell and Rubin by 2026, and he now sees at least $1 trillion by 2027.

Memory storage names such as Sandisk (SNDK 703.63, +42.01, +6.35%) and Western Digital (WDC 286.21, +13.92, +5.11%) finished with even wider gains, with Micron (MU 441.80, +15.67, +3.68%) also trading higher before its earnings release tomorrow after the close. 

The PHLX Semiconductor Index finished 2.0% higher. 

In other AI-related news, Meta Platforms (META 627.45, +13.74, +2.24%) was a mega-cap standout today after Reuters reported the company is planning to lay off up to 20% of its workforce as AI costs rise. The communication services sector posted a gain of 1.0%.

The consumer discretionary sector (+1.3%) was another top mover, also supported by strength in its mega-cap components. Shares of Amazon (AMZN 211.74, +4.07, +1.96%) rose to session highs after NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said OpenAI will be brought to AWS.

The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (+1.2%) notched a solid gain today, though it remains 7.1% lower on a year-to-date basis. 

Elsewhere in the sector, cruise lines such as Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH 19.84, +0.98, +5.17%) outperformed amid the retreat in oil prices.

Airlines such as United Airlines (UAL 90.28, +3.68, +4.25%) logged similar gains, adding to strength in the industrials sector (+0.9%). 

Meanwhile, Mosaic (MOS 27.67, -1.64, -5.60%) and CF Industries (CF 122.37, -7.20, -5.56%) were the worst-performing S&P 500 names, giving back some of their recent strength as supply chain fears around shipping through the Strait of Hormuz recently sent the stocks surging. 

Food and alcohol stocks were also relative laggards today, keeping the consumer staples sector (+0.1%) near its flatline despite a solid move in Dollar Tree (DLTR 114.36, +6.90, +6.42%) after the company narrowly topped EPS estimates but issued an encouraging comparable sales forecast. 

Outside of the S&P 500, the Russell 2000 (+0.9%) and S&P Mid Cap 400 (+0.7%) notched gains similar to those across the major averages. 

All told, today's session marked a solid rebound from previous weakness that saw the major averages test their 200-day moving averages. While a meaningful retreat in oil prices provided the catalyst for a broad buy-the-dip effort, the war in Iran remains without a clear resolution in sight, which could prompt more volatility in the near term. The market will also navigate the March FOMC decision on Wednesday (along with a plethora of other central banks this week), with investors eager to see the effect that the recent surge in oil prices has on the summary of economic projections and the Fed's expected policy outlook. 

U.S. Treasuries had a good run today, logging most of their gains in the overnight trade as oil prices came down. There was some giveback during the cash session, but ultimately securities across the curve regrouped and settled today near their best levels of the session in terms of price and yield. The 2-year note yield settled down five basis points to 3.68%, and the 10-year note yield settled down seven basis points to 4.22%. 

• S&P Mid Cap 400: +1.8% YTD
• Russell 2000: +0.9% YTD
• S&P 500: -2.1% YTD
• DJIA: -2.3% YTD
• Nasdaq Composite: -3.7% YTD

Reviewing today's data:

• March Empire State Manufacturing -0.2 (Briefing.com consensus 0.5%); Prior 7.1
• February Industrial Production 0.2% (Briefing.com consensus 0.4%); Prior 0.7%, February Capacity Utilization 76.3% (Briefing.com consensus 76.0%); Prior was revised to 76.3% from 76.2%
  
  • The key takeaway from the report is that it marked the fourth straight monthly increase in industrial production, although that streak masks some otherwise tepid output. At 102.6 percent of its 2017 average, total industrial production was just 1.4% above its year-earlier level.
• March NAHB Housing Market Index 38; Prior was revised to 37 from 36

[BRIEFING.COM] The major averages remain firmly higher, remaining well-positioned to start the week with solid gains across the board. 

Crude oil futures settled today's session $5.26 lower (-5.4%) at $93.35 per barrel, with the pullback acting as a catalyst for the broader market today. 

NVIDIA (NVDA 182.93, +2.68, +1.49%) CEO Jensen Huang said that last year he saw $500 billion of purchase orders for Blackwell and Rubin by 2026; he now sees at least $1 trillion by 2027.

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+1.1%), Nasdaq Composite (+1.4%), and DJIA (+0.9%) continue to hold solid gains as the market enters the final hour of the session. 

NVIDIA (NVDA 183.86, +3.61, +2.00%) remains a mega-cap standout following CEO Jensen Huang's keynote address at the company's GTC conference. 

Similar to previous addresses, Mr. Huang's commentary sent several other stocks higher. In particular, Mr. Huang stated that OpenAI will be brought to Amazon's (AMZN 211.65, +3.98, +1.92%) AWS and that NVIDIA has a great partnership with CoreWeave (CRWV 85.60, +4.50, +5.54%). 

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&PO 500 (+1.16%) is up 77 points this afternoon, good enough for second place.

Briefly, S&P 500 constituents Ciena (CIEN 363.62,+26.25, +7.78%), Intel (INTC 47.67, +1.90, +4.15%), and Coinbase Global (COIN 204.48, +8.95, +4.58%) pepper the top of the standings. CIEN follows strength in memory and optical peers, while INTC rises on speculation the company could be involved in Tesla's (TSLA 398.21, +7.01, +1.79%) proposed "Terafab" project and ahead of potential partnership announcements with Nvidia at this week’s Nvidia GTC conference.

Meanwhile, Bio-Techne (TECH 48.73, -2.12, -4.17%) is one of today's worst laggards.

[BRIEFING.COM] The Nasdaq Composite (+1.23%) is in first place among the major averages with about two hours to go on Monday afternoon.

Gold futures settled $59.50 lower (-1.2%) at $5,002.20/oz, as surging oil prices tied to Middle East tensions stoked inflation concerns and reduced expectations for near-term Federal Reserve rate cuts. Higher Treasury yields and a stronger U.S. dollar also pressured the metal, making non-yielding gold less attractive relative to interest-bearing assets.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index is down about -0.5% to $99.91.