The First Slice for Thursday, February 15, 2024

The U.S. stock market embarked on a recovery journey after Tuesday’s stumble, triggered by an inflation report showing higher-than-anticipated figures for January. Investors, however, swiftly redirected their focus toward corporate earnings, propelling the market forward.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded up 0.11%.
The S&P 500 rose, gaining 0.49%.
The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.70%.

Many S&P 500 companies have unveiled their earnings, depicting resilience and strength. Factset data shows over 75% of these companies have surpassed earnings-per-share expectations, with 65% reporting positive revenue figures.

Wednesday’s resurgence saw nine out of eleven S&P 500 sectors bouncing back, although energy and consumer staples saw a slower pace of recovery. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 outshone, surging by 0.5%, while the broader S&P 500 climbed by 0.4%.

The smaller-cap stocks, as represented by the iShares Russell 2000 ETF, staged an impressive rally of 1.7%, a notable rebound from the 4% drop experienced just the day before.

In financial policy, dovish remarks from the Federal Reserve contributed to lower Treasury yields across all maturities. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee’s assurance that even slightly higher inflation over the next months would align with the Fed’s target reassured the market.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency world continued to make waves, with Bitcoin crossing the $1 trillion market value mark, its price soaring above $51,000, while in commodities, U.S. natural gas prices declined amid milder weather forecasts and increased stocks, hitting lows last seen in July 2020……….[read more]