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Wall Street Pauses as Oil Surges and Tesla Stumbles

  U.S. stocks stalled on Thursday as investors weighed a sharp rise in oil prices against a wave of fresh corporate earnings. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 hovered near the flat line, while the Nasdaq 100 also showed little movement. Energy markets took center stage after oil futures jumped more than 5% following new U.S. sanctions on Russian producers, pushing Brent crude toward $66 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate closer to $62. The surge added pressure to inflation concerns already weighing on Wall Street. On the corporate front, Tesla shares slipped over 3% in premarket trading after the electric vehicle maker posted mixed third-quarter results, disappointing investors and kicking off the “Magnificent Seven” earnings cycle. IBM stock also dropped about 7% , as stronger-than-expected profits were overshadowed by weaker software revenue. Traders are now awaiting results from American Airlines and T-Mobile , with Intel set to ...
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Dow hits new peak as energy sector surges; investors await inflation report





The Dow Jones Industrial Average reached a new all-time high on Monday, boosted by strong gains in the energy sector amid rising oil prices and a major acquisition deal. The blue-chip index closed at 38,797.38, up 0.3% from the previous session.

Energy stocks led the rally, as Diamondback Energy Inc (NASDAQ: FANG) soared 9.2% after announcing it would buy private oil producer Endeavor Energy for $26 billion, creating the second-largest operator in the Permian Basin. Other energy companies, such as APA Corporation (NASDAQ: APA), Schlumberger NV (NYSE: SLB), and EQT Corporation (NYSE: EQT), also rose more than 1%.

The energy sector was also supported by higher crude oil prices, which climbed above $80 a barrel for the first time since 2014, driven by tight supply and strong demand. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, known as OPEC+, agreed last week to stick to their plan of gradually increasing output, despite calls from the U.S. and other major consumers to pump more oil to ease the pressure on inflation.

Inflation will be in focus this week, as the U.S. will release its consumer price index (CPI) for January on Tuesday, followed by the producer price index (PPI) on Wednesday. Economists expect the CPI to show a 0.4% monthly increase and a 7% annual increase, the highest since 1982. The PPI is forecast to rise 0.6% month-over-month and 9.5% year-over-year, the highest on record.

Investors will also pay close attention to the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting on Wednesday, where the central bank is expected to announce the end of its bond-buying program and signal the timing of its first interest rate hike since 2018. Several Fed officials have recently expressed their concern about the persistent inflation and the need to tighten monetary policy sooner rather than later.

Meanwhile, the earnings season will continue this week, with more than 60 companies in the S&P 500 scheduled to report their quarterly results. Some of the notable names include Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), Shopify (NYSE: SHOP), Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ: KHC), Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), and Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN). So far, about 75% of S&P 500 companies have beaten analysts’ earnings estimates and 65% have topped revenue expectations, according to FactSet.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite also closed higher on Monday, but below their record levels. The S&P 500 edged up 0.1% to 5,048.56, while the Nasdaq gained 0.3% to 15,432.49. The tech-heavy index was lifted by the rally in cryptocurrencies, as Bitcoin ( BitfinexUSD) surpassed $50,000 for the first time in more than two years.

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