Tech Stocks Inch Higher Ahead Of Key Inflation Data, GameStop Skyrockets, Tencent Fuels China Rally: What's Driving Markets Monday?

Wall Street kicked off a data-heavy week on a mixed note as traders await key inflation updates and remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell in the coming days.

The S&P 500 remained stable, hovering around Friday’s closing levels and not far from record highs. The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.2%, poised for its third consecutive session of gains, marking the seventh positive session in the last eight.

Blue-chip stocks were also trading flat at midday, striving to extend their winning streak to the ninth consecutive day.

The Russell 2000, tracking small-cap stocks, managed to outperform, up 0.6%.

Treasury yields moved slightly lower, with the 10-year yield easing from 4.5% to 4.47%. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT rose 0.4%.

Animal spirits resurfaced in the meme stocks, as GameStop Inc. soared over 70% following a social media update from “Roaring Kitty,” a prominent figure in the 2021 meme stock phenomenon.

Exchange-traded funds linked to themes like meme stocks, cryptocurrencies and high-sentiment stocks, such as the Schwab Crypto Thematic ETF STCE or the SoFi Social 50 ETF SFYF, saw broad-based rallies. In the cryptocurrency space, Dogecoin DOGE/USD outperformed peers, up over 10%, while Bitcoin BTC/USD rose 3.2%.

Read also: Who Is Roaring Kitty? Why Does His Return To Social Media Matter For GameStop Stock?

Another notable market movement occurred in Chinese stocks, fueled by Tencent Music Entertainment Group TME reporting revenue that surpassed expectations, resulting in a 9.3% surge in its shares.

The KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF KWEB and the Invesco Golden Dragon China ETF PGJ both saw gains of 3.9% and 3.8%, respectively, ahead of a flurry of upcoming company earnings reports this week, including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. BABA, Baidu Inc. BIDU and JD.com Inc. JD.

In the commodities market, oil rebounded 0.8% while gold fell 1%.

Monday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY was 0.1% up to $521.20, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average DIA was flat at $395.02 and the tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust QQQ was up 0.3% to $443.26, according to Benzinga Pro data. 

Sector-wise, the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund XLK outperformed, up 0.8%. The Communication Services Select Sector SPDR Fund XLC was the major laggard, down 0.6%.

Monday’s Stock Movers

• Meme-related stocks experienced significant rallies across the board, driven by the dramatic surge in GameStop. AMC Entertainment Holdings AMC surged over 40%, Beyond Inc. BYON nearly 20%, Incyte Corp. INCY was up 7% and Bitcoin-linked MicroStrategy Inc. MSTR saw a 6% increase. Robinhood Markets Inc. HOOD rose by 6% as well.
• Intel Corp. INTC gained almost 3% amid rumors of a deal with Apollo Global Management APO, with the latter poised to invest over $11 billion in a new plant in Ireland.
• Stocks reacting to earnings included Fortrea Holdings Inc. FTRE down 15%, NET Power Inc. NPWR down 0.5% and Paysafe Ltd. PSFE up 4.2%.
• Companies reporting earnings after the close are StoneCo Ltd. STNE, Intercorp Financial Services Inc. IFS and Agilysys Inc. AGYS.

Now read: Are Meme Stocks Back? Here’s What’s Going On With Shares Of GameStop, AMC Entertainment, Koss Corp And More

Illustration created using artificial intelligence via MidJourney.