Stock Market Live July 15: Today’s S&P 500 (VOO) Rise Is No Surprise
Key Points
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Inflation numbers came in at 2.7% Tuesday.
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Food and energy costs were higher.
Live Updates
Tuesday Wrap-up
The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF closed at 571.95 Tuesday, down 0.4%.
Netflix Upgraded
BMO Capital raised its price target on S&P 500 component company Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX | NFLX Price Prediction) to $1,425 with an outperform rating. The banker cited record-breaking Squid Game 3 viewership and an attractive slate of content coming in H2 FY25, as well as “hundreds of billions” of “user interactions” annually as key to its buy thesis.
Another One (from Tesla) Bites the Dust
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) VP of sales, service and delivery in North America Troy Jones, a 15-year veteran of Tesla, has left the company. The departure comes less than one month after head of manufacturing and operations Omead Afshar quit.
Tesla stock is down 0.9% on the news, but the Voo is still up 0.3%.
AmEx Downgraded
Not all today’s banking news is good. S&P 500 component company American Express (NYSE: AXP) got hit today with a downgraded to neutral from Monness, Crespi, Hardt analyst Gus Gala. “We are downgrading Amex to a Neutral … following a 45% runup since upgrading,” said Gala. Earnings estimates are unchanged, but the stock is trading towards the top end of its historical valuation range.
American Express shares responded by falling 1.7%. The Voo’s gain is slimmed to 0.3% in the first few minutes of trading.
This article will be updated throughout the day, so check back often for more daily updates.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday morning that the consumer price index rose 0.3% in June, which is exactly what economists had predicted would happen. The monthly increase puts the annual inflation rate at 2.7% currently — also in line with expectations.
“Core” inflation (which excludes food and energy costs, both of which rose in June) was both better and worse, up only 0.2% for the month of June, but tracking for 2.9% annual inflation. Again, however, this is all exactly as economists had predicted.
The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEMKT: VOO) is pretty pleased with the news, and up 0.5% premarket.
Earnings
Earnings are starting to come in fast and furious with multiple big bank S&P 500 component companies reporting Q2 results.
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) reported $1.60 per share in profit, $0.20 better than expected.
Citigroup (NYSE: C) reported $1.96 per share in Q2 profits, $0.35 better than expected.
JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) reported $4.96 per share, $0.48 better than expected.
In each case, revenue also exceeded expectations.
Analyst Calls
Outside of banking, S&P 500 component company Otis Worldwide (NYSE: OTIS) gets an upgrade to overweight from J.P. Morgan with a $109 price target. And fellow component company Zimmer Biomet (NYSE: ZBH) is similarly upgraded to buy by Roth/MKM, with a $135 price target.
Joel South covers large-cap stocks, dividend investing, and major market trends, with a focus on earnings analysis, valuation, and turning complex data into actionable insights for investors.
He brings more than 15 years of experience as an investor and financial journalist, including 12 years at The Motley Fool, where he served as an investment analyst, Bureau Chief, and later led the Fool.com investing news desk. He has also co-hosted an investing podcast and appeared across TV and radio discussing market trends.
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