US Stocks Rise Slightly Amid Mixed Economic News
The US stock market saw slight gains today due to mixed economic news from the United States. The S&P 500 Index rose by 0.04%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 0.02% and the Nasdaq 100 Index rose by 0.01%. July capital goods new orders nondefense ex-aircraft and parts, a proxy for capital spending, rose less than expected at 0.2% month-over-month. However, personal spending and income in July exceeded expectations with increases of 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively.
July core PCE price index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, rose by 3.3% year-over-year, meeting expectations. Despite this, some stocks declined due to earnings results. Intuit fell over 2% after providing a weaker-than-expected full-year forecast for both adjusted earnings and revenue.
On the other hand, J M Smucker surged more than 5% after reporting stronger-than-expected Q1 adjusted EPS and raising its 2027 adjusted EPS forecast. The outlook for strong Q2 earnings is seen as a bullish factor for stocks, with AI spending expected to account for most of earnings growth.
The markets are also awaiting Nvidia's earnings results today, which will help determine the pace of AI spending by hyperscalers and provide insights into future demand and capital spending. US stock movers included Summit Therapeutics, Semtech, J M Smucker, Datadog, Photronics, Oracle, Spyre Therapeutics, Kohl's, Zoom Communications, Intuit, GoDaddy, Boston Scientific, and nCino.