Stocks rose on Monday as Wall Street looks to rebound from the worst week of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA) rose nearly 75 points, while the S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY) and Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQ: QQQ) climbed about 0.3% and 0.6%, respectively.
Here's how the market settled to open the week:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +0.31% or +12.31 points to 3,982.35
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +0.22% or +73.37 points to 32,889.29
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +0.63% or +72.04 points to 11,466.98
Making big moves on Monday, Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) rose 9% after the railroad operator announced CEO Lance Fritz will step down this year. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) analyst ken Koexter updated Union's shares to Buy from Neutral, citing that the leadership change shows the company is prioritizing an operational fix that was flagged by the Surface Transportation Board.
"This in our view highlights the service and operational underperformance UNP has experienced over the past few years, one of the driving points in our downgrade last month," Hoexter wrote Monday. "It also follows UNP being called to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) in December to detail its use of embargoes and poor service, the first time a single rail had been called in since CSX in 2016."
On the economic front, durable goods orders fell in January, signaling that consumer demand for big-ticket items is starting to wane in the face of inflationary pressures. Sales of long-lasting goods declined 4.5% for the month, according to the Census Bureau report, falling more-than-expected and nearly reversing December's 5.1% increase.
Pending home sales jumped 8.1% last month compared to December, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) on Monday, marking the second straight month of gains. However, sales were 24% lower compared with January 2022.
"Buyers responded to better affordability from falling mortgage rates in December and January," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR, in a statement.
Elsewhere for stocks, Seagen (NASDAQ: SGEN) shares rose nearly 11% after the Wall Street Journal reported that Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) is in talks to acquire the cancer-therapy biotech company. The deal is "expected to command at a premium" above Segan's market cap of about $30 billion, the WSJ reports, citing people familiar with the matter.
Wall Street closed out the worst week so far this year on Friday after market participants grew more concerned that the Federal Reserve will maintain high interest rates for longer than previously expected. Those fears stemmed from a hotter-than-expect CPI report for January. The Dow fell 3% for its fourth consecutive losing week, while the S&P 500 lost 2.7% and the Nasdaq dropped 3.3%.
Looking ahead, retail remains in focus this week, with earnings from Target (NYSE: TGT) slated for before market open on Tuesday. The big-box retailer's earnings follow outlook warnings from Walmart (NYSE: WMT) and Home Depot (NYSE: HD) last week on concerns for the health of the U.S. consumer in the year ahead.
Other retailers like Costco (NYSE: COST), Dollar Tree (NYSE: DLTR), Kohl's (NYSE: KSS), Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) and Macy's (NYSE: M) are scheduled for the week ahead.