U.S. stock markets closed higher on Monday for four consecutive days. Market participants are waiting for the results of several “Magnificent 7” stocks this week and the next. Moreover, the Fed will also conduct its first FOMC meeting of 2026 this week. All three major stock indexes ended in positive territory.
How Did the Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) rose 0.6% or 313.69 points to close at 49,412.40. Notably, 18 components of the 30-stock index ended in positive territory and 12 in negative territory.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished at 23,601.36, rising 0.4% or 100.11 points on the strong performance of AI bigwigs. The major gainer of the tech-laden index was Atlassian Corp. TEAM. The stock price of the Internet software bigwig was up 5.1%. Atlassian currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The S&P 500 gained 0.5% to finish at 6,950.23. Seven out of 11 broad-sectors of the broad-market index ended in positive territory while four ended in negative territory. The Materials Select Sector SPDR (XLB) and the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR (XLP) rose 0.9% and 0.8%, respectively. However, the Financials Select Sector SPDR (XLF) and the Industrials Select Sector SPDR (XLI) slipped 1.45 and 0.8%, respectively.
The fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was up 0.4% to 16.15. A total of 18.41 billion shares were traded on Monday, higher than the last 20-session average of 17.60 billion. Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 1.37-to-1 ratio. On the Nasdaq, a 1.04-to-1 ratio favored declining issues.
Magnificent 7 Earnings in Focus
As of Jan. 23, 64 S&P 500 companies have reported earnings results in this reporting cycle. Total earnings of these companies are up 17.5% from the same period last year on 7.8% higher revenues, with 82.8% beating EPS estimates and 68.8% beating revenue estimates.
Importantly, investors are waiting for the results of four “Magnificent 7” stocks to be reported this week. Two more companies will report next week. At present, total earnings of the S&P 500 index have been projected to grow 8.9% year over year on a 7.9% growth in revenues.
Fed’s FOMC Meeting in Focus
The Fed will conduct its first FOMC meeting of 2026 on Jan. 27 and 28. The Fed fund rate is currently pegged in the range of 3.5-3.75%. The CME Fedwatch interest rate derivative tool currently shows a massive 95.6% probability that the central bank will stick to this range. However, market participants will keenly follow the Fed Chairman’s post-FOMC comments.
Economic Data
The U.S. Census Bureau announced that new orders for manufactured durable goods for November rose 5.3%, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 5.5%. The metric for October was revised upward to a contraction of 2.1% from a contraction of 2.2% reported earlier.
Subtracting volatile Transportation orders, durable orders were up 0.7% in November from the downwardly revised 0.1% in October. Non-Defense, ex-aircraft — a proxy for “normal” business investment — was up 0.7% in November, compared with the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 0.3%. This is the highest level since 1% rise in September of last year.
Shipments of durable goods doubled expectations, with a growth rate of 0.4% in November compared with the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 0.2%. However, the metric was well below the 0.8% growth rate in October.
The Conference Board Leading Economic Index declined 0.3% in November 2025 to 97.9, after declining by 0.1% in October to 98.2, down from 98.3 in September.
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Atlassian Corporation PLC (TEAM): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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