Stocks closed near the flatline on Monday as investors returned to Wall Street after a losing week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 Index dipped lower, while the Nasdaq Composite was slightly higher.
Here's how the market settled on Monday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): -0.04% or -1.95 points to 5,202.39
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): -0.03% or -11.24 points to 38,892.80
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +0.03% or +5.44 points to 16,253.96
Moving Markets:
In his annual letter to shareholders released Monday, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon said artificial intelligence could be as transformational to society as the printing press, electricity and the internet. The bank currently has more than 2,000 AI and machine learning employees, Dimon said.
"Over time, we anticipate that our use of AI has the potential to augment virtually every job, as well as impact our workforce composition," Dimon said. "It may reduce certain job categories or roles, but it may create others as well."
Zoom Out:
Bank of America economists expect this week's consumer price index reading for March to show easing inflationary pressures, potentially boosting confidence for Federal Reserve policy makers to begin cutting interest rates in June. The firm expects the month's core CPI to show 0.2% growth after rising 0.4% in February.
"The moderation in core CPI should reflect a drip in core goods prices and a more modest price increase in core services," the firm wrote in a note. "A report in line with our expectations would provide confidence to the Fed and keep a June cut firmly in play."
Wells Fargo raised its 2024 S&P 500 price target to 5,535 from 4,625, implying a more than 6% upside.
"We believe equities have some upside from here, but still anticipate a volatility spike in 1H24 while a 2H24 'melt-up' appears increasingly likely, partly driven by political outcomes that support greater M&A and partly by an anticipated multi-year easing cycle that supports risk-taking," the firm said in a note on Monday.
On the Economic Front:
Consumer's inflation outlook remains steady in March, according to a survey from the New York Federal Reserve released Monday, with the survey's one-year inflation outlook coming in unchanged from February's reading of 3%. The three-year outlook rose 0.2 percentage points to 2.9%, while the five-year outlook declined by 0.3 percentage points to 2.6%.
In the News:
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) shares rose Monday after CEO Elon Musk said the electric vehicle maker will "unveil" its robotaxi product on August 8. Musk has spoken about creating a robotaxi for years, with interest boosted by the company's autonomous driving technology.
Spirit Airlines (NYSE: SAVE) said Monday it will defer deliveries of new Airbus (OTC: EADSY) planes and furlough roughly 260 pilots in effort to "ensure a strong and profitable future" for the budget carrier, CEO Ted Christie said in a note to employees on Monday. The airline will defer all Airbus planes that were scheduled to be delivered from 2Q 2025 though the end of 2026, instead taking delivery of them in 2030 and 2031. The deferrals are expected to boost its liquidity by about $340 million over the next two years.
"Deferring these aircraft gives us the opportunity to reset the business and focus on the core airline while we adjust to changes in the competitive environment," Christie said in a release.
For Tuesday:
Market participants are looking ahead towards Wednesday's CPI data for March as well as the start of the second quarter earnings season later in the week with companies including Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL), JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), BlackRock (NYSE: BLK), and Citigroup (NYSE: C) set to report.