Stock Market Today: Investors brace for third-quarter tech earnings this week

• US stocks jumped on Monday as investors await key financial indicators and economic data this week.
• Major tech companies such as Meta, Microsoft and Apple will report third-quarter earnings.
• Economic data releases include GDP growth, inflation via the PCE index and the October jobs report.

US stocks rose on Monday, kicking off a crucial week of earnings and economic data.

More than 90 companies in the S&P 500 are set to report results this week, and investors will be keeping a close eye on third-quarter updates from Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and Alphabet.

Collectively, these five mega-cap tech giants are worth about $12 trillion.

“We have our busiest week ahead, moving from cyclicals to mega-cap AI/tech. Monetization of AI is in the spotlight and is uneven at best. But tech executives told us the biggest risk is underThis type of investment in AI capital could drive sales not only in the tech industry but also in the broader market,” Savita Subramanian of Bank of America said Monday.

Currently, 37% of S&P 500 companies have reported earnings results. Of these companies, 78% beat earnings estimates by an average of 6% and 58% beat earnings estimates by an average of 2%, according to Fundstrat.

It’s also a big week for economic data, with third-quarter GDP due to be released Wednesday morning. The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow Tracker forecast growth of 3.3% for the quarter, while economists expect growth of 3.2%.

Investors will also get a look at inflation with Thursday’s release of the PCE index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation.

Economists estimate the annual PCE index is expected to be 2.1%, a slight decline from last month’s 2.2%.

Finally, on Friday, investors will turn their attention to the October jobs report. Economists expect the economy to add 110,000 new jobs last month, a big decline from the September jobs report, which reported 245,000 new jobs.

After that, investors will be focused on next week’s presidential election, followed by the next Fed meeting on November 6-7.

Here’s where U.S. indices stood as of Monday’s close at 4 p.m.:

Here’s what else is happening:

In commodities, bonds and cryptocurrencies:

• West Texas Intermediate crude fell 5.54% to $67.80 per barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 5.50% to $71.87 a barrel.
• Gold was unchanged at $2,754.50 an ounce.
• The 10-year Treasury yield rose 3 basis points to 4.274%.
• Bitcoin rose 2.49% to $69,638.