Business

5 things to know before the stock market opens Monday

February 5, 2024

Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:

1. Tech surge

The S&P 500 closed out last week with another new high, lifted by tech stocks. The index added 1.1% on Friday to close at 4,958.61, above the previous record it hit on Monday. Facebook-parent Meta led tech stocks as its shares surged more than 20% after announcing its first-ever dividend. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, rose 0.4%, to 38,654.42, which was also good for a record close, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.7%. It was the fourth week of gains for the major indexes. To start this week, stock futures slipped after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell dashed hopes for an interest rate cut in the near term. Follow live market updates.

2. Will the magic continue?

A sign welcomes visitors near an entrance to Walt Disney World on February 01, 2024, in Orlando, Florida.

Joe Raedle | Getty Images

The biggest tech companies’ earnings are done for the season, but there are still plenty that have yet to report. The positive news for investors is that it’s been a good earnings season so far: About 80% of S&P 500 company quarterly results have beat estimates, which is slightly higher than normal. Investors will be watching this week to see if the major players, including Disney, McDonald’s and Ford, will keep that trend rolling.

Monday: McDonald’s (before the bell); Palantir Technologies (after the bell)
Tuesday: Spotify, Eli Lilly, Spirit AeroSystems, Frontier Group (before the bell); Ford, Enphase Energy, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Snap, Amgen (after the bell)
Wednesday: CVS Health, Yum Brands, Roblox, Uber Technologies (before the bell); Walt Disney, Mattel, PayPal (after the bell)
Thursday: Spirit Airlines (before the bell); Pinterest (after the bell)
Friday: PepsiCo (before the bell)

3. Tech GOAT?

Microsoft Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Satya Narayana Nadella speaks at a live Microsoft event in the Manhattan borough of New York City, October 26, 2016.

Lucas Jackson | Reuters

Satya Nadella has been the top dog at Microsoft for 10 years now — and he’s made his mark. When he took over, the company’s market cap was just over $300 billion and it was mired in mediocrity. Since then, Microsoft has become the most valuable public company in the world with a $3.06 trillion market cap, thanks in part to Nadella’s dealmaking, product integrations and push into cloud computing. Nadella “is special and someone to be considered as one of the GOATs among tech CEOs,” said Aravind Srinivas, co-founder and CEO of AI startup Perplexity. Nonetheless, Nadella faces challenges ahead, with regulation, retention, Microsoft’s relationship with OpenAI and with finding that next big thing that will keep the good times rolling.

4. Fresh merchant-eyes

Macy’s launch event for its new private brand, On 34th, also marked one of the first public appearances by Tony Spring (left) since he was named incoming CEO. Spring is CEO of the company’s higher-end department store chain, Bloomingdale’s. He will succeed Jeff Gennette (right) in February.

Melissa Repko | Tech Zone Daily

There’s a new boss at a 166-year-old retailer. Former Bloomingdale’s CEO Tony Spring took over as Macy’s CEO on Sunday, as the company faces a tougher climate than ever. Macy’s stock fell about 24% in the last year and it currently only has a market cap of $5.11 billion. It’s closed about a third of its namesake stores over the past decade and lost about 45% of its employee headcount. The company is also facing pressure from activist investors. Spring has his challenges cut out for him, but current and former Macy’s employees, industry leaders and investors told Tech Zone Daily that his retail background and credibility from decades of experience at Bloomingdale’s are assets. “I’m a former merchant,” he said in July. “I still consider myself a merchant at heart.”