Stocks gained on Monday at the start of a holiday-shortened week, as traders considered the highly anticipated renomination of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to the top role at the central bank.
The Dow added more than 100 points, or 0.4%, just after market open. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each also advanced. Investors kicked off the week on a strong note, with equity and bond-market trading set to close fully on Thursday and early on Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday.
President Joe Biden on Monday announced he was nominating Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for a second term leading the central bank, ending weeks of speculation over who would be tapped for the role. Biden was expected to select either Powell or current Fed Governor Lael Brainard. Following the nomination, Powell will go before the Senate Banking Committee for approval, and if confirmed, will serve another four-year term.
“I think this was largely expected by markets. Certainly there were some conversations in markets over the last couple of weeks about Brainard potentially being elevated to the Fed chair position. But by and large the expectation was for consistency,” Erin Browne, Pimco managing director and portfolio manager, told Yahoo Finance Live on Monday. “You may see a little bit of a rally on the back of this with the expectation that policy is going to remain in place and intact, and everything that’s been articulated already by the Fed is likely to continue into 2022 and beyond.”
The new leader will be tasked with helping lead the central bank as it grapples over the coming months with whether the economic recovery has progressed enough to warrant a deeper reduction in monetary policy support.
"The most important question in the moment right now is how high the Fed ultimately hikes interest rates," John McClain, portfolio manager for Brandywine Global's high yield and corporate credit strategies,told Yahoo Finance Live on Friday."Right now, expectations are for about two and a half to three hikes in 2022, and probably getting to about 175 basis points on Fed funds ultimately."
"The market and the media are focused on a faster Fed tapering and hiking sooner than June of next year," he added. "And importantly, we're seeing inflation and things that matter to the consumer, prices at the pump, food, rent, all are going higher. And the list kind of goes on and on."
More data on the inflation front is set to be released this week, which will further provide data hinting at whether the Fed may need to step in sooner rather than later to curb persistently elevated prices. The core personal consumptions expenditures (PCE) index from the Bureau of Economic Analysis out Wednesday, which serves as the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, will likely show a 4.1% over last year, based on Bloomberg consensus data. This would be the biggest annual jump in about three decades.
Optimism over new deal-making activity across numerous industries also helped push stocks higher on Monday. Constellation Brands (STZ), the maker of Corona beer, is reportedly exploring a deal to combine with Coca-Cola-backed (KO) energy drink company Monster Beverage, according to a Bloomberg report on Monday. And private equity firm KKR & Co. made an about $12 billion bid to bring Telecom Italia private, sending shares of the Italian telecommunication giant sharply higher.
Investors also shook off jitters from late last week, when rising COVID-19 cases globally set off fresh concerns over the virus's spread. The Austrian government implemented a fourth national lockdown since the start of the pandemic, effective Monday and lasting for at least 10 days, to try and stem jumping infections. Germany has considered a similar move. The latest round of stay-in-place orders raised concerns for investors that a drop in consumer mobility might ultimately place renewed pressure on economic activity domestically and abroad.
"In the United States, COVID cases have declined but remained above summer lows and have been edging up recently," Rubeela Farooqi, High Frequency Economics chief economist, wrote in a note Monday. "We do not expect lockdowns in the United States. Experience with the Delta variant suggests that mandated lockdowns are not needed to suppress activity. Wary of health risks from rising case counts, people may voluntarily avoid high-contact activity."
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9:30 a.m. ET: Stocks jump after Biden renominates Powell for Fed chair
Here's where markets were trading just after the opening bell:
S&P 500 (^GSPC): +21.2 (+0.45%) to 4,719.16
Dow (^DJI): +131.53 (+0.37%) to 35,733.51
Nasdaq (^IXIC)
Crude (CL=F): -$0.71 (-0.93%) to $75.23 a barrel
Gold (GC=F): -$31.40 (-1.70%) to $1,820.20 per ounce
10-year Treasury (^TNX): +5.7 bps to yield 1.593%
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