The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged more than 400 points on Monday and was on pace for a record close as the benchmark’s postelection rally presses forward.
The 30-stock Dow gained 421 points, or 0.9%. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% and hit a record, while the Nasdaq Composite hovered near the flatline.
Monday’s gains put the Dow on track to close above 44,000 for the first time. The S&P 500 was also on pace for its first-ever close north of 6,000.
JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs popped 1.7% and 2.2%, respectively, to lead the Dow higher. Bank of America and Citigroup shares were also up more than 2% each. The cohort has posted sharp gains since Donald Trump’s election win last week, as investors hope his return to the White House could lead to easier regulation of the banking sector.
Bitcoin surged above $82,000, boosted by hopes of deregulation as well. Crypto related stocks Coinbase and Mara Holdings rallied 21% and 16%, respectively. Tesla soared more than 8%, also adding to its postelection gain.
“The Republicans’ decisive win has ignited ‘animal spirits,’ despite already lofty expectations,” Morgan Stanley Wealth management chief investment officer Lisa Shalett wrote in a Monday note. “Rather than viewing developments as a fundamental shift toward the reflationary, no-landing scenario, we see sentiment and liquidity-driven positioning for what it is, and we are maintaining our balanced stance.”
Wolfe Research upgrades Warner Bros. Discovery to market perform
Warner Bros. Discovery could benefit under a Trump Victory, according to Wolfe Research.
The investment firm upgraded shares of the media and entertainment conglomerate to a peer perform rating from underperform. Analyst Peter Supino added that his “probability weighted valuation points to a share price of $10,” approximately 9% higher than the stock’s Friday closing price of $9.18.
Supino believes Max’s strong industry leverage could stabilize Warner Bros. Discovery’s EBITDA.
“Max’s international acceleration, DTC’s inflection to meaningful profitability, and growing appetite by traditional TV distributors to carry streaming services + linear nets should provide Warner with FCF to paydown debt and invest in its healthier businesses,” the analyst wrote.
Meanwhile, investor appetite for a spin or sale was low under the Biden administration, but a second Trump presidency could right the ship.
“Trump’s election and Comcast’s strategic initiatives signal improving chances for deals that would unlock value,” Supino added.
— Lisa Kailai Han
Gold futures slip to start the week
Gold ticked down on Monday and hovered near a roughly one-month low.
Gold futures lost 2.3% to about $2,633, the lowest level since Oct. 10 when bullion traded as low as $2,618.8
— Brian Evans, Gina Francolla
Stocks open higher
Stocks were higher shortly after the opening bell on Monday, as Wall Street continues its postelection rally from last week.
The S&P 500 gained 0.3%, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 353 points, or 0.8%.
— Brian Evans
Stocks on the move before the bell
Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk speaks as Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. president Donald Trump looks on during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 5, 2024.
These are the stocks on the move before the bell Monday:
- Tesla — The electric vehicle stock popped 7% and looked poised to build on last week’s 29% surge. The Elon Musk-run company has rallied on the heels of Donald Trump’s presidential victory, topping $1 trillion in market value on Friday as investors bet the company will benefit under the new administration.
- Crypto stocks — Stocks tied to cryptocurrencies rallied, with bitcoin topping $82,000 and hitting fresh highs, as Wall Street continued to bet a Trump administration would be more favorable toward the crypto industry.
- Cigna — The health insurance giant popped 8% after saying it will not be pursuing a merger with Humana. Cigna also reiterated its fiscal 2024 and 2025 guidance. Humana shares shed 8%.
Read the full list here.
— Samantha Subin
Morgan Stanley hikes Dell Technologies price target to 15% above current levels
Dell Technologies has a rosy outlook ahead, according to Morgan Stanley.
The bank reiterated its overweight rating on the personal computer manufacturer but raised its price target to $154 from $136. This updated forecast implies shares of Dell Technologies could rise nearly 15% from their current levels.
As a catalyst, analyst Erik Woodring pointed to Dell’s strong server momentum. The analyst believes the company’s artificial intelligence server outlook looks stronger than previously estimated for the second half of 2025 and could rise to $20 billion in 2026.
“While our 3Q24 CIO Survey showed that DELL is the best-positioned hardware vendor to capture traditional enterprise spend over the next 3 years, our recent AI server checks show that DELL’s AI infrastructure momentum is building even faster,” he wrote. “In fact, we now estimate DELL will ship 48k 8- GPU AI server equivalents in FY26/CY25, equivalent to 23% Y/Y growth, with our new FY26 AI Server revenue forecast now standing at just over $20B, ~60% higher than our prior forecast and a few billion dollars above the buyside Consensus.”
The analyst attributed Dell’s momentum acceleration to factors including strong customer demand, broad-based share gains and repeat customer purchases alongside a long-term enterprise AI opportunity.
Shares of Dell Technologies have soared 75% in 2024 but could rally more from here, Woodring added.
“While DELL has been a strong outperformer since shares bottomed 3 months ago (+49% vs. S&P 500 up 11%), we believe DELL’s outperformance has further to run thanks to this AI server momentum, which is reflected in our new FY26 EPS of $10.50, 12% above Consensus, and $154 price target,” the analyst remarked.
— Lisa Kailai Han
JPMorgan upgrades Cisco to overweight from neutral
Cisco faces a positive medium-term outlook, according to JPMorgan.
The bank upgraded shares of the technology and telecommunications company to an overweight rating from neutral. At the same time, analyst Samik Chatterjee lifted his price target to $66 from $55.
Shares of Cisco have climbed 15% on the year. Chatterjee’s new forecast implies the stock could rise another 14% from its current valuation.
As a catalyst, Chatterjee pointed to potential earnings upgrades from a recovery cycle in Enterprise Networking demand.
“We have found renewed confidence in recent earnings prints from Juniper Networks and Extreme Networks that the path towards a Networking recovery is underway, with both companies highlighting encouraging signs relative to customer demand and activity,” the analyst wrote.
Meanwhile, the company’s recent investments into its security division could boost its aggregate revenue growth. The analyst added that he still sees upside potential for the stock when considering historical precedence.
“With a likely return to positive earnings revisions from the recovery in Enterprise Networking recovery, we envision a compression of the relative discount to the market multiple for the shares,” he added.
— Lisa Kailai Han
UBS downgrades Vale to neutral rating from buy
A more bearish iron ore outlook should weigh down shares of Vale, according to UBS.
The bank downgraded shares of the Brazilian mining operator to a neutral rating from buy, simultaneously lowering its target price to $11.50 from $14. This updated forecast implies Vale stock could rise another 9% from its Friday close.
Shares of Vale have tumbled 33% in 2024.
“Given increasing macro risks post US election, we trim our 2025/26E iron ore premium & pellet volume forecasts & cut our 2025/26E EBITDA ~9%,” wrote analyst Myles Allsop. “We remain concerned about iron ore fundamentals medium-term & see downside to the spot price; in our opinion, China steel exports are vulnerable to global restrictions & unlikely to be fully offset by stimulus.”
More specifically, the analyst believes iron ore prices could be held at around $100 per ton in 2025 before falling back toward $80 to $90 per ton. However, the company could benefit in the medium term from lower costs, higher premiums and improving volumes.
Allsop also cited the upcoming Vale Day on Dec. 3 as a potential catalyst. There, he expects Vale’s new CEO to discuss his key priorities, although this should not materially change forecasts since it will take time to deliver on these initiatives.
“We see a balanced risk-reward: self-help & the base dividend (~7% yield) limit the downside while the challenging iron ore outlook, increasing macro risks & high cash disbursements cap the upside,” Allsop added.
— Lisa Kailai Han
Hong Kong leads losses in Asia as China inflation and stimulus disappoint
People walk in front of Exchange Square, which houses the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, on September 23, 2024 in Hong Kong, China.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index led losses in Asia on Monday as most markets in the region fell, down 1.62% as of its final hour of trading.
This comes after China announced a five-year stimulus package worth 10 trillion yuan, or $1.4 trillion, to tackle local government debt problems on Friday. However, some analysts doubt it is enough to meaningfully stimulate growth.
The country’s inflation rate also declined to 0.3%, missing expectations of 0.4% and also lower than the 0.4% seen in September.
Mainland China’s CSI 300 gained 0.66% to end at 4,131.13.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended marginally higher, while the broad-based Topix ended flat.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.15%, while the small-cap Kosdaq lost 1.96%.
— Lim Hui Jie
Stocks come off winning week
The market is going into the next week with momentum.
The Dow and S&P 500 each climbed more than 4% last week, notching their best weeks since November 2023. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped more than 5%. All three finished Friday’s session at all-time closing highs.
Elsewhere, the small cap-focused Russell 2000 surged more than 8%.
— Alex Harring
S&P 500 futures are little changed
S&P 500 futures were near flat shortly after 6 p.m. ET. Dow futures were also little changed, while Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.2%.
— Alex Harring