Hourly Market Review - Mar 15, 2024 12 PM
The S&P 500 fell by 0.6% on Friday, with technology stocks experiencing a decline amid ongoing inflation concerns ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting next week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite decreased by 0.9%. Notable tech companies like Apple and Microsoft saw their shares fall by more than 1%, with similar declines for Amazon and Alphabet. However, Nvidia saw a rise of over 1%.
Investors are on high alert after recent data, including February's producer price index, exceeded expectations, leading to a roughly 22 basis point increase in the 10-year Treasury yield for the week. This has raised questions about whether the Federal Reserve will be able to ease monetary policy given the strong economic data.
Macquarie's global FX and rates strategist, Thierry Wizman, suggests that the Fed may be concerned about market frothiness and could signal a need for higher long-term interest rates. Despite this, fed funds futures indicate a 99% likelihood of the central bank keeping interest rates unchanged at its upcoming meeting.
Additionally, trading volumes and price volatility may be higher on Friday due to the simultaneous expiration of futures and options on stock indexes and individual stocks, an event known as triple witching that occurs quarterly.
Movers of the hour:
Geron is up 92.00% at $3.36.
Cardlytics is up 53.35% at $12.55.
WiMi Hologram Cloud is up 27.77% at $1.84.
Akebia Therapeutics is up 25.18% at $1.72.
American Vanguard is up 23.61% at $13.09.
Here are the top stocks upgraded by Wall Street analyst:
Microsoft has received a rating of Strong Buy from Jefferies with target price increased to $465 from $465.
Nvidia has received a rating of Buy from Oppenheimer with target price increased to $850 from $650.
Nvidia has received a rating of Strong Buy from Truist Securities with target price increased to $911 from $691.
Nvidia has received a rating of Strong Buy from Tigress Financial with target price increased to $985 from $790.