US stocks were mostly higher Tuesday at the open, kicking off a shortened trading week amid hopes the hard-won deal-ceiling deal will get through a divided Congress in a matter of days.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) was up 0.51%, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose 1.11%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was flat.
US bond yields lost ground as investors assessed the potential impact of the debt limit deal. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury dropped to 3.7%. The two-year note yield slipped to 4.5%, while that on the 30-year bond dropped to 3.9%.
Investors are now watching for the debt ceiling deal to get over its next crucial hurdle so it can be passed by lawmakers and avert a harmful default.
President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached a tentative agreement on Sunday to raise the debt ceiling and the budget. The deal came after weeks of negotiations, slow progress that rattled markets.
Still, the agreement faces an early test Tuesday in the House Rules Committee, which is scheduled to consider the bill before an expected vote in the House on Wednesday, and before it goes to the Senate.
The administration has warned that Congress must raise the debt ceiling by June 5 — the so-called “X-date” — or risk tipping the US into the first default in its history.
WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 28: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on a deal struck yesterday with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to raise the national debt limit in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on May 28, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images)
Even as the clock ticks down, Wall Street is playing the waiting game.
“There’s not much room for error but with moderates on both sides seemingly in line, then there can be a vocal minority on both sides against the deal and it still passes,” Jim Reid and colleagues at Deutsche Bank wrote to clients Tuesday morning. “We will see how lawmakers react as they come back from the holiday weekend.”
Meanwhile, the major economic release of the week will be the US jobs report for May due out on Friday. Economists polled by Bloomberg expect a drop in monthly payroll additions to 180,000, from 253,000 in April. The unemployment rate is seen inching up slightly to 3.5%.
The jobs report will be pored over in coming weeks for clues to whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at the next meeting of policymakers, set for June 13-14. Markets are pricing in a rate hike of 25 basis points by July after data last week showed US consumer inflation accelerated in April.
On the housing front, US home prices again increased month over month. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price index rose 0.4% in March compared with the previous month, according to data released on Tuesday. That was the second straight month of gains after seven consecutive months of price declines.
Elsewhere, shares of NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) rallied over 3%, hitting a $1 trillion market cap at the open Tuesday after CEO Jensen Huang unveiled a host of new AI-related products and services the previous day.
Other stocks linked to AI rose, including Palantir Technologies Inc. (PLTR) shares, which gained more than 5% Tuesday. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) shares climbed more than 1%, while C3.ai Inc. (AI) shares gained more than 14%.
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Dani Romero is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @daniromerotv
TORONTO – Cineplex Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year ago as it was hit by a fine for deceptive marketing practices imposed by the Competition Tribunal.
The movie theatre company says it lost $24.7 million or 39 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $29.7 million or 40 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
The results in the most recent quarter included a $39.2-million provision related to the Competition Tribunal decision, which Cineplex is appealing.
The Competition Bureau accused the company of misleading theatregoers by not immediately presenting them with the full price of a movie ticket when they purchased seats online, a view the company has rejected.
Revenue for the quarter totalled $395.6 million, down from $414.5 million in the same quarter last year, while theatre attendance totalled 13.3 million for the quarter compared with nearly 15.7 million a year earlier.
Box office revenue per patron in the quarter climbed to $13.19 compared with $12 in the same quarter last year, while concession revenue per patron amounted to $9.85, up from $8.44 a year ago.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Restaurant Brands International Inc. reported net income of US$357 million for its third quarter, down from US$364 million in the same quarter last year.
The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its profit amounted to 79 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with 79 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue for the parent company of Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, totalled US$2.29 billion, up from US$1.84 billion in the same quarter last year.
Consolidated comparable sales were up 0.3 per cent.
On an adjusted basis, Restaurant Brands says it earned 93 cents US per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 90 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Fortis Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $420 million, up from $394 million in the same quarter last year.
The electric and gas utility says the profit amounted to 85 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 81 cents per share a year earlier.
Fortis says the increase was driven by rate base growth across its utilities, and strong earnings in Arizona largely reflecting new customer rates at Tucson Electric Power.
Revenue in the quarter totalled $2.77 billion, up from $2.72 billion in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Fortis says it earned 85 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 84 cents per share in the third quarter of 2023.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 82 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
