Wall Street maintained a cautious stance amid a flurry of earnings reports this week, while markets posted gains for the sixth consecutive week.

With some important tech companies scheduled to announce their earnings this week, the Nasdaq Composite kicked off the week on a positive note even as the Dow Jones and S&P 500 opened in the red.

Nearly a fifth of S&P 500 companies are set to report their earnings this week. Cumulative earnings of S&P 500 companies are set to rise for a fifth straight quarter, FactSet said.

On Tuesday, earnings from companies like GE Aerospace GE, Lockheed Martin Corp. LMT, 3M Company MMM, Verizon Communications Inc. VZ, and General Motors GM will be on investors’ radar.

In premarket trading on Monday, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY fell 0.50% to $580.71 and the Invesco QQQ ETF QQQ declined 0.65% to $492.19, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Cues From Last Session:

Caution reigned the markets on the first day of the week, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones both ending the day in the negative, while the Nasdaq Composite registered gains.

AI stocks led the surge, with Nvidia Corp. NVDA closing at a new all-time high. The positive sentiment rubbed off on rivals, too, with Marvell Technology Inc. MRVL, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD, and Super Micro Computer Inc. SMCI emerging as some of the top gainers.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Index jumped to fresh highs in intraday trading on Friday.

Insights From Analysts:

Investors remained anxious about the prospect of future rate cuts amid comments from Federal Reserve officials urging for a cautious approach. Kansas City Fed President Jeff Schmid spoke in favor of moderation, saying “A cautious and deliberate course of action seems appropriate.”

On the other hand, San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly said there is no reason for the Fed to hold rates steady. “I haven’t seen any information that would suggest we wouldn’t continue to reduce the interest rate,” Daly told the Wall Street Journal.

Fundstrat Head of Research Tom Lee told CNBC in an interview that he expects companies in the S&P 500 index to post a revenue growth of 5% this quarter.

“It is a really high-quality earnings season so far. It’s a good beat season, but it’s early,” he said.

“Stocks which have been strong are really still a ‘buy the dip’ market.”

Going ahead, Lee says to watch out for industrial stocks, after a week of financial stocks having posted better-than-expected earnings.

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Upcoming Economic Data

The economic calendar for Tuesday is light, with only one major speech scheduled so far.

• Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker is scheduled to speak at 10 a.m. ET.

Stocks In Focus:

• General Motors GM shares surged nearly 3% in premarket trading on Tuesday after the company reported better-than-expected earnings and raised its profit forecast for the third time this year.
• Lockheed Martin LMT shares rose over 1% in premarket trading ahead of the company’s third-quarter earnings.
• Apple Inc.’s AAPL iPhone 16 witnessed price cuts in China on online platforms as part of Singles’ Day promotions.
• Nvidia Corp. NVDA stock has seen an increase in price targets due to bullish demand for artificial intelligence. Bank of America raised its price target for Nvidia from $165 to $190, while investment research firm CFRA raised its target to $160.

Commodities, Bonds And Global Equity Markets:

Crude oil futures edged up in the early New York session, rising nearly 1.10% as China cut key lending rates to boost its economy.

The 10-year Treasury note yield rose marginally to 4.208%.

Asian markets were mixed on Tuesday, with Chinese markets edging lower amid economic growth concerns.

European stocks showed tentativeness and were mostly lower in early trading.

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