Stocks rallied higher on Monday as traders looked ahead towards a busy week for third-quarter corporate earnings. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed over 300 points, while the S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite added 1% and 1.2%, respectively.
Here's how the market settled on Monday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +1.06% or +45.85 points to 4,373.63
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +0.93% or +314.25 points to 33,984.54
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +1.20% or +160.75 points to 13,567.98
Monday's moves were driven by a strong start to the third-quarter earnings season, with JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) and UnitedHealth (NYSE: UHC) each rising higher after posting their quarterly results on Friday. On Monday, Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCHW) rallied nearly 5% higher after topping Wall Street estimates for third quarter earnings.
The week ahead will host earnings reports for 11% of the S&P 500, with results from Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) slated for release.
Wall Street is also continuing to monitor ongoing developments of the Israel-Hamas war over the weekend. Notably, President Joe Biden told CBS's "60 Minutes" in an interview on Sunday that the United States plans to aid Israel and Ukraine in their efforts against Hamas and Russia, respectively.
"We're the United States of America for God's sake, the most powerful nation in the history-- not in the world, in the history of the world. The history of the world. We can take care of both of these and still maintain our overall international defense."
Elsewhere, Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker on Monday acknowledged that the central bank's interest rate hikes have impacted housing affordability in the United States. In remarks before the Mortgage Bankers Association, Harker said he is "fully aware of the way the actions we on the [Federal Open Market Committee] have taken over the past 18 months in our efforts to tame inflation and get it back down to our 2% annual target have, in their own way, contributed to the current mortgage climate."
Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) shares came under pressure on Monday after the pharmaceutical giant cut its full-year revenue guidance by $9 billion late Friday as demand wanes for its COVID vaccine and treatment. Pfizer's now expects full-year adjusted earnings guidance between $1.45 to $1.65 per share, from the prior forecast of $3.25 to $3.45 per share.
On Monday, Jefferies analyst Akash Tewari upgraded the firm's rating on Pfizer to Buy, calling shares an attractive buying opportunity. "In our view, PFE has one of the most intriguing catalyst paths over the next yr in large cap pharma and trades ~15% below where it traded at the start of the COVID pandemic," Tewari said in a note.
Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD) shares dropped Monday after the drug store chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New Jersey and appointed Jeffrey Stein as its new CEO. The stock has fallen more than 80% so far this year, with shares sliding below $1 after closing out 2022 at $3.34.
For Tuesday, Wall Street will react to earnings from Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) before market open and United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL) after closing bell. Traders will also digest the latest report on U.S. retail sales for September and a reading of the NAHB/Wells Fargo home builder confidence index for October.