Stocks gave up an early gain and turned lower Monday in another day of roller-coaster trading. The S&P 500 fell 0.9% after being up more than 1.6% earlier. Technology companies, which led the market higher in the morning, led it lower in the afternoon. Investors were discouraged to see that California extended a shutdown of bars and indoor dining and ordered gyms, churches, and hair salons closed in most places as coronavirus cases keep rising. The S&P 500 fell 29.82 points to 3,155.22. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 10.50 points, or less than 0.1%, to 26,085.80, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 226.60 points, or 2.1%, to 10,390.84.
Earnings reporting season really gets going on Tuesday, when several of the country’s biggest banks are slated to report their results, including JPMorgan Chase. Across the S&P 500, expectations are almost universally dreadful, the AP reports. Analysts say the biggest US companies likely saw their earnings per share plummet nearly 45% from April through June, compared with year-ago levels. That would be the sharpest drop since the depths of the Great Recession in 2008, according to FactSet. Investors, however, largely seem willing to give a pass for such terrible results in the latest quarter and maybe even for a couple more. "We—and many investor—expect the coronavirus-induced collapse in profits will be concentrated in 2020," Goldman Sachs strategists wrote in a report.
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