S&P 500 higher ahead of big tech earnings, Fed decision

Investing.com -- The S&P 500 rose Monday, underpinned by a rally in energy as investors continue to digest better-than-expected quarterly results of reports from big tech and the Federal Reserve decision this week.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6%, or 191 points, Nasdaq was up 0.2%.

Energy tops list of gainers

Energy stocks were the top gainers on the day, led by climb in Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL), Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: OXY), and Chevron Corp (NYSE: CVX), with the latter up more than 2% following better-than-expected quarterly results following record quarterly production in the Permian Basin.

“While operational results were limited, they were still positive, in our view, as they confirm improved Permian well performance and TCO [Tengizchevroil] projects remaining on track,” UBS said in a note.

Energy stocks were also supported by a rise in oil prices to April highs on bets that OPEC supply cuts will tighten market conditions.

Regional banks rally to help financials shine

Regional banks were in rally mode as a recent swath of quarterly results from KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY), Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (NASDAQ: HBAN) and Citizens Financial Group Inc (NYSE: CFG) showing stabilizing deposit bolstered sentiment on the sector.

PacWest Bancorp (NASDAQ: PACW), which had recently been weighed down by jitters about weakness in smaller banks following the banking crisis in May, rallied more than 8% ahead of its results due Tuesday.

Big tech readies earnings

Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) are set to kick off earnings for big tech on Tuesday after the market closes.

Bullish bets on tech had suffered a blow following a slump in Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) and Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) last week, but Wedbush says the “set-up is much different this week.”

Highlighting several positive themes including “cloud strength, AI monetization, digital advertising stabilization, and a less cautious IT spend environment,” Wedbush said it sees a “clear bull case for owning tech stocks into 2Q tech earnings season.”

Countdown to Fed decision

The Fed gets its two-day meeting underway on Tuesday, with a 0.25% rate hike now nearly fully priced in, according to Investing.com’s Fed Rate Monitor Tool.

The widely expected rate hike on Wednesday could likely be the final rate hike, said Morgan Stanley, forecasting the peak federal funds rate at 5.375% for this year.

In anticipation of another rate hike, Treasury yields climbed on Thursday, with the 2-year Treasury yield, which is more sensitive to Fed rate hikes, rising to 4.9%.

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