Wall Street closed slightly lower, with the Dow Jones dropping by 0.25%, while the S&P 500 remained flat, closing at 5,078 points. The Nasdaq 100 saw a slight increase of 0.21%; the S&P 100 consolidated at yesterday’s levels with a 0.1% rise.
Investors are awaiting new macroeconomic data for further clues on interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. This week’s highlight is Thursday’s publication of January’s PCE, the inflation indicator preferred by the U.S. central bank.
Utilities (+1.89%) and telecommunications (+1.03%) sectors performed well in the S&P 500. The energy sector, however, was at the bottom of the list, experiencing a decline of -0.43%.
Key players in the Dow Jones included Walgreens Boots Alliance (+3.05%), Walt Disney (+1.62%), Home Depot (+1.07%), and Travelers Company (+0.82%).
The worst performances were seen in Amgen, closing at -2.75%.
United Health experienced a downturn, recording a drop of 2.27%.
Chevron saw a slight loss, trading down by -1.48%.
McDonald’s faltered, dropping by 1.13%.
Leading the Nasdaq stocks were Constellation Energy (+16.92%), Trade Desk (+4.15%), American Electric Power Company (+4.09%), and Palo Alto Networks (+3.95%).
The most significant declines were in Workday, ending the session at -3.96%.
Amgen had a negative session, showing a loss of 2.75%.
Electronic Arts was under pressure, with a decrease of 2.16%.
Globalfoundries slid, with a significant setback of 1.87%.
Key macroeconomic events that will significantly impact U.S. market trends include:
Wednesday, 02/28/2024
14:30 USA: GDP, quarterly (expected 3.3%; previous 4.9%)
14:30 USA: Wholesale inventories, monthly (expected 0%; previous 0.4%)
16:30 USA: Crude oil inventories, weekly (expected 1.8 million barrels; previous 3.51 million barrels)
Thursday, 02/29/2024
14:30 USA: Personal income, monthly (expected 0.5%; previous 0.3%)
14:30 USA: Unemployment claims, weekly (expected 209K units; previous 201K units)
14:30 USA: Personal spending, monthly (expected 0.3%; previous 0.7%)
15:45 USA: Chicago PMI (previous 46 points).
