Stock market today: Stocks close ahead of tech earnings, Fed meeting

Stocks rallied Monday as investors eyed a busy week ahead. In addition to Big Tech earnings scheduled for release over the next several sessions, the Federal Reserve’s latest policy decision is due Wednesday afternoon.

The Fed is well-positioned to deliver another 75 basis-point rate hike as inflation remains at four-decade lows and the economy is still adding jobs at a healthy clip, said Edward Moya, money market strategist at data provider OANDA. “Since the Fed has been slow to fight inflation, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they’re trying to be as strong as the economy. [economic] Blurred vision.”

of Energy sector (+3.7%) turned out to be better than today US crude futures U.S. crude jumped 2.1 percent to $96.70 a barrel, as consumer demand stocks (-0.9%) lagged on heavy selling. Weber (WEBR, -12.7%) shares. The grill maker cut its full-year guidance by posting preliminary fiscal third-quarter sales figures that fell short of analysts’ consensus estimates, citing “increasing inflation, supply chain constraints, fuel prices and geopolitical uncertainty.” Weber said he is replacing the chief executive immediately as he tries to better position himself to “navigate historic macroeconomic challenges.”

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As for the broader markets, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day by 0.3% at 31,990 and at S&P 500 index It gained 0.1% to 3,966. of Nasdaq CompositeMeanwhile, semiconductor stocks shed 0.4% to 11,782. Marvel technology (MRVL, -2.5%) and Nivea (NVDA, -1.7%) sold off.

Other news on the stock market today:

• Small-cap Russell 2000 It rose 0.6% to 1,817.
• Gold futures It fell 0.5% to $1,719.10 an ounce.
• Bitcoin It fell 3% to $21,906.41. (Bitcoin trades 24 hours a day; prices reported here are as of 4 p.m.)
• Newmont ( NEM ) fell 13.2% after the mining company reported second-quarter adjusted earnings of 46 cents per share on revenue of $3.06 billion, falling short of analysts’ consensus estimates. The company also reported that its cost of sales (CAS) increased by 23.4% year-over-year for the three-month period, due to higher labor and fuel costs. Several other gold stocks fell for NEM, including Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM, -4.6%) and Barrick Gold (Gold, -2.78%)
• Travelers (TRV, +2.3%) was the second-best Dow Jones stock today – coming in behind the energy giant. Chevron (CVX, +3.0%) – Raymond James analyst C. Gregory Peters upgraded the insurance brand to a strong buy from market performance (neutral). The analyst listed several reasons why TRV “can be positioned to continue to outperform relatively well,” including strong growth in the commercial insurance segment, including auto and homeowner’s insurance and the stock’s attractive valuation. “TRV is an industry leader in the independent agency channel and has averaged over 13% return on equity over the past 10 years,” says Peters.

Take a look at the split walk this season

As earnings season heats up, investors will certainly be looking at how companies are doing on their top and bottom lines, but they’ll also be looking for dividend announcements. Many corporations announce shareholder-friendly initiatives, such as stock buybacks or dividends, in conjunction with their quarterly updates.

Given the turbulent markets we’ve seen this year, “investors need to focus on the industry leaders,” says CEO and CIO of Laffer Tengler Investments. Growers if possible.”

Naturally, the best place for investors to find companies that grow their annual payouts is among the Dividend Aristocrats — the top group of names in the S&P 500 index that have grown their dividends for at least 25 consecutive years. Here, we take a closer look at the S&P 500’s best dividend stocks. While they are scattered across almost every sector, they have one thing in common: a commitment to reliable dividend growth.