Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on Feb. 29, 2024.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
The S&P 500 rose Wednesday in an attempt to snap a three-day string of losing sessions.
The broader market index gained 0.7%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 434 points, or 1.1%. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4%.
Wednesday’s best-performing stocks in the S&P 500 include Cintas, up 7% on the back of better-than-expected earnings. Shares of Merck were up nearly 5%, hitting a new all-time high, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Winrevair, the company’s life-threatening lung condition treatment, for use among patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Those moves follow three negative days for the S&P 500 and the Dow after stocks closed at record levels last week. Despite the recent pullback, all three major indexes are still on pace to end the trading month and quarter, which both conclude with Thursday’s closing bell, in the green.
As of Tuesday’s close, the S&P 500 has added 2.9% in the month and 9.9% in the quarter. The Nasdaq has climbed 1.9% in March and 9.2% during the three-month period, while the Dow has added 1.9% and 5.4% during the respective periods.
This would mark the best first-quarter gain for the S&P 500 and 30-stock Dow since 2019 and 2021, respectively, when the indexes rose 13.1% and 7.4%. All three major averages are on pace to notch their fifth straight winning month and second consecutive positive quarter.
Although the market has been drifting higher, any kind of negative external event could have the potential to shock equities into a correction, according to Michael Green, chief strategist at Simplify Asset Management.
“It really becomes a question of: Does an external factor emerge that shakes the market out of its current lethargy?” he told CNBC. “If we encounter an event that causes volatility to rise … a regime of stability would face more pressure in the next couple of months. Anytime change kicks in, it becomes a source of uncertainty.”
As examples of potential external event candidates, Green listed rising volatility in the China market and interest rate cuts in Mexico and Switzerland.
Later this week, investors will watch for data on jobless claims, gross domestic product and consumer sentiment. While the market is closed on Good Friday, attention will be on releases tied to personal income, consumer spending and the personal consumption expenditures expected in the morning.
Source link: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/26/stock-market-today-live-updates.html