Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The three major indices settled little changed from prior closing levels. The S&P 500 (+0.1%) and Nasdaq Composite (+0.1%) eked out slim gains while the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.1% lower and the Russell 2000 underperformed, dropping 1.1%.

The mixed showing was due to wait-and-see mentality in front of this week's influential events. About 35% of the S&P 500 components report earnings this week, including four of the five weightiest stocks in the index. Microsoft (MSFT 426.73, +1.46, +0.3%) reports results after Tuesday's close, Meta Platforms (META 465.71, +0.01, +0.0%) reports results after Wednesday's close, Amazon.com (AMZN 183.20, +0.70, +0.4%) and Apple (AAPL 218.24, +0.28, +0.1%) report results after Thursday's close.

Dow component McDonald's (MCD 261.42, +9.42, +3.7%) closed higher despite reporting disappointing quarterly results. Investors are hopeful of turnaround efforts driven by value-based menu pricing.

This price action contributed to the gain in the S&P 500 consumer discretionary sector (+1.4%), which also benefitted from gains in Amazon and Tesla (TSLA 232.10, +12.30, +5.6%). The communication services sector was the next best performer, jumping 0.9%.

The heavily-weighted information technology (-0.3%) and financials (-0.2%) sectors were top laggards.

This week also features the July FOMC Statement on Wednesday and the July Employment Situation report on Friday. Today's news was somewhat limited, but included the U.S. Treasury announcing that it expects to borrow $740 billion in Q3, $106 billion less than anticipated in April. Q4 borrowing is expected to reach $565 billion. The Treasury market didn't react much to the news, ultimately settling little changed from yesterday. 

The 10-yr note yield declined two basis points to 4.18% and the 2-yr note yield settled unchanged at 4.39%.

• Nasdaq Composite:+15.7% YTD
• S&P 500: +14.5% YTD
• Russell 2000: +10.3% YTD
• S&P Midcap 400: +10.4% YTD
• Dow Jones Industrial Average: +7.6% YTD

There was no US economic data of note today. 

Looking ahead, Tuesday's economic lineup features: 

• 9:00 ET: May FHFA Housing Price Index (prior 0.2%) and May S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index (Briefing.com consensus 6.8%; prior 7.2%)
• 10:00 ET: July Consumer Confidence (Briefing.com consensus 99.8; prior 100.4)