US Stocks rebound on bargain buying

The US stock market eked out a slight gain on Monday, 27 February 2023, as some investors opted to pick up stocks at reduced levels after last week's losses. However, market gains capped as jitters persisted about coming interest rate hikes to tame stubbornly high inflation.

At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index advanced 72.17 points, or 0.22%, to 32,889.09. The S&P500 index was up 12.20 points, or 0.31%, to 3,982.24. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index increased 72.04 points, or 0.63%, to 11,466.98.

Last week, the S&P 500 dove by 2.7%, while the Dow and the Nasdaq plummeted by 3.0% and 3.3%, respectively, as economic data and comments from U.S. Federal Reserve officials heightened expectations the central bank will become more aggressive in raising interest rates.

Total 7 of 11 sectors ended higher along with the S&P500 Index. Consumer discretionary was top performing sector, rising 1.18%, followed by industrials (up 0.83%), information technology (up 0.52%), and communication services (up 0.42%) sectors.

Tesla shares jumped 5.5% after the electric automaker said its plant in Brandenburg near Berlin was producing 4,000 cars a week, three weeks ahead of schedule

Seagen Inc shares surged 10.4% after the Wall Street Journal reported that Pfizer (PFE.N) was in early talks to acquire the biotech firm. Pfizer's shares dipped 2.32%.

U.S. railroad operator Union Pacific shares climbed 10.1% as Chief Executive Lance Fritz said he would step down.

ECONOMIC NEWS: Commerce Department released a report on Monday showing durable goods orders plunged by 4.5% in January after surging by a downwardly revised 5.1% in December. The steep drop by durable goods orders came as orders for transportation equipment plummeted by 13.3% in January after soaring by 15.8% in December. Excluding orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders climbed by 0.7% in January after falling by 0.4% in December.

Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors released a separate report showing pending home sales index soared by 8.1% to 82.5 in January after jumping by 1.1% to a downwardly revised 76.3 in December.

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