4.05pm: Lackluster start to the month for equities following a record October
US stocks finished the day in positive territory after the S&P 500’s best-performing month in nearly a year.
At the close, the Dow rose 94 points to 35,914, while the S&P 500 gained 8 points at 4,614 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 98 points, or 0.6%, to 15,596.
Notable movers included shares of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), which climbed more than 8% after gaining 44% in October.
12:10pm: US equities rise midday
US stocks were higher midday Monday on the first trading day of November.
On Friday, stocks ended October with all three major averages closing at record highs. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq clinched their best months since November 2020.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 5.8% in October. The S&P 500 rallied 6.9% and the Nasdaq added 7.3% last month.
As of noon, the Dow was up 49 points, or 0.14%, to 35,869. The S&P 500 rose 2.2 points, or 0.05% to 4,607.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq increased 65 points, or 0.42%, to stand at 15,562.
Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, said that despite headwinds of higher inflation and energy prices, investors still remain bullish -- thanks to a very strong earnings season.
“Whether that continues beyond the reporting period is another thing, with it potentially being harder to find positives to drive markets higher,” he said. “The Fed will announce tapering this week, the Bank of England may raise rates and the RBA could offer a less dovish view on the outlook after some strange activity this past week. And that's just the start, with other central banks already heading in that direction and prepared to do more over the next year as inflation remains uncomfortably high."
The biggest gainer on the day so far is loanDeport Inc, up 25% to $8.18 a share.
10.55am: Proactive North America news headlines:
Roblox is back online following three-day hiatus
Empower Clinics opens latest The Medi-Collective clinic in Mississauga
Harbor Custom Development reports estimated 3Q net income of $3.6M
LQwD FinTech adds to its Bitcoin holdings to the tune of C$4.5M
PharmaDrug boosts its product portfolio ahead of anticipated legalization of cannabis in Germany
ElectraMeccanica (NASDAQ:SOLO) says strategic contract manufacturing partner in China exercises 1.4M warrants
District Metals hits 'strongest and widest interval of massive sulphide mineralization' so far at Tomtebo
LexaGene finalizes design of MiQLab pneumonia panel
Xigem Technologies (CSE:XIGM, OTCQB:XIGMF) inks letter of intent to acquire Cylix Data Group for C$32.4M in all-stock deal
Mason Graphite announces ‘highly promising’ testing results for silicon-graphite composite anode material
Todos Medical announces 2nd site for Tollovir Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of hospitalized coronavirus patients
FansUnite submits application to become gaming related supplier-manufacturer in Ontario
Algernon Pharmaceuticals reports positive pre-clinical data on DMT candidate to treat stroke
Ximen Mining closes non-brokered private placement for gross proceeds of C$1M; arranges another placement for C$400,000
Vicinity Motor receives letter of intent for C$14 million order for VMC 1200 trucks
9.42am: US stocks start on front foot
US benchmark indices started higher, as had been expected, on the first day of November as traders await a data and news-rich week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added over 100 points at 35,920 to reach a new record in early deals in New York, while the S&P 500 gained around 11 points at 4,616.
The technology company heavy Nasdaq Composite added over 22 points at 15,521.
Last month was dominated by quarterly earnings, which showed solid results and share prices rising. Reportedly, around half of S&P 500 companies have now posted results, with over 80% of them beating Wall Street earnings estimates.
As well as any potentially stock market-stimulating news from the global climate conference in Glasgow (COP26), investors this week will be eyeing a Federal Reserve policy meeting, starting tomorrow and going into Wednesday for detail on when the US central bank will start easing back on stimulus measures.
The Fed is generally expected to announce that it will begin to unwind its US$120 billion in monthly bond purchases and stop it completely by mid-2022.
Traders will also be looking for any more comment on the state of US inflation.
6.55am: US stocks seen opening higher
US stocks are expected to start November on the front foot but investors are likely to be wary in a week full of event risk, including the Federal Reserve’s rate-setting meeting and October employment numbers.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.43% in Monday pre-market trading, while the broader S&P 500 index gained 0.42% and those for the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 added 0.87%.
Fed chair Jerome Powell is expected to announce a tapering in quantitative easing when the Federal Open Market Committee wraps up its meeting on Wednesday. That falls between Tuesday’s meeting of the Reserve Bank of Australia and Thursday’s Bank of England announcement.
"It’s strange to have a likely Fed taper announcement on Wednesday be third billing for the week but the BoE on Thursday might be the next most important meeting as it’s still a finely judged call as to whether they hike this week or not," commented Jim Reid, a strategist at Deutsche Bank.
"In line with recent guidance, DB expect that the Fed will announce monthly reductions of $10bn and $5bn of Treasury and MBS purchases, respectively. With the first cut to purchases coming mid-November, this will bring the latest round of QE to a conclusion in June 2022."
US non-farm payrolls for October are due for release on Friday.