Stocks rose on Monday as market benchmarks recovered some of the sharp losses seen last week and prepared for the U.S. presidential election on Tuesday. While the Dow outperformed and the S&P 500 was strengthened by energy, materials and industrials sectors, the Nasdaq was pressured by mega-cap tech shares continuing to slump following their quarterly earnings reports last week.
Meanwhile, manufacturing activity in the United States expanded by the most in two year for October, according to fresh data from the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing purchasing managers' index. October's headline PMI rose to 59.3 from September's 55.4, marking the reading's fifth straight month of expansion and the index's highest level since September 2018.
Here's how the market settled to start the week:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +1.23% or +40.28 points to 3,310.24
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +1.60% or +423.45 points to 26,925.05
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +0.42% or +46.02 to 10,957.61
For Major Stock News, Mega-cap tech shares were mostly pressured: Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). Dunkin' Brands (NASDAQ: DNKN) announced on Monday that it agreed to be taken private by Inspire Brands, which will buy the company for $106.50 in an all cash deal. Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE: NCLH) shares fell after the cruise operator disclosed that it will suspend all voyages through the end of 2020 for all of its three brands. "The company will continue to work in tandem with global governments and public health authorities and its Healthy Sail Panel expert advisors to tackle all necessary measures to protect its guests, crew and the communities visited," Norwegian issued in a statement.
For Sector Performance, every industry rebounded on Monday with all sectors ended the session with positive performance gains. Energy (NYSE: XLE) was the leader as oil priced rebounded after falling the previous session. Materials (NYSE: XLB) also gained over 3%, while Utilities (NYSE: XLU), Real Estate (NYSE: XLRE) and Industrials (NYSE: XLI) all increased over 2%.
For Commodities and Currency, the U.S. Dollar (NYSE: UUP) continued to strengthen on Monday as investors pulled money from risk assets ahead of the U.S. presidential election. The dollar has continued to gain momentum over the past week as various market uncertainties like the coronavirus pandemic and lack of U.S. economic stimulus soured risk sentiment. The dollar index rose 0.05% at 94.15 against other global currencies on Monday. Gold (NYSE: GLD) prices also gained on Monday as election uncertainties and a global surge in new coronavirus infections raised appeal for the yellow metal as a safe haven. Spot gold rose 0.8% to $1,893.13 per ounce, while gold futures settled 0.7% higher at $1,892.50 per ounce. Crude oil futures rebounded on Monday, gaining around 3% as oil continues to volatile trading trend. International benchmark Brent Crude (NYSE: BNO) rose 3% to $39.08 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (NYSE: USO) was up 2.8% to $36.81 per barrel.
For Tuesday, investors will focus on last minute trades ahead of U.S. election results. This year will be much different than prior U.S. presidential elections for results may take longer to process due to the unprecedented amount of nationwide mail-in ballots.