Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:
1. Retreating
Stocks fell Monday and yields rose as investors worried about the conflict in the Middle East. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.65%. The S&P 500 sank 1.2% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite tumbled 1.79%. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury rose above 4.6%, its highest point since November. The CBOE Volatility Index closed at its highest level since October as tensions escalated in the Middle East following Iran’s missile and drone launch at Israel on Saturday. Follow live market updates.
2. Tesla layoffs
Tesla vehicles sit on the lot at a Tesla dealership on April 15, 2024 in Austin, Texas.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images
Tesla announced Monday it will lay off more than 10% of its global workforce. “As we prepare the company for our next phase of growth, it is extremely important to look at every aspect of the company for cost reductions and increasing productivity,” CEO Elon Musk said in a memo to employees obtained by CNBC. The cuts come as the company’s sales growth has slowed and it faces growing competition from EV makers such as BYD. Tesla shares have fallen 35% this year and slid about 5% Monday.
3. Shopping spree
Shoppers walk around Twelve Oaks Mall on November 24, 2023 in Novi, Michigan.
Emily Elconin | Getty Images
Consumers kept shopping at a more rapid pace than expected, according to data from the Commerce Department Monday. Retail sales grew 0.7% in March, much higher than the forecast for a 0.3% rise. The core control group, which excludes several volatile measures and is part of the formula to calculate gross domestic product, increased 1.1% in March. The biggest rise in growth came from online sales which climbed 2.7%. Gas prices rose 2.1% on the month while miscellaneous retailers had an increase of 2.1%.
4. Banks report
Bank of America reported first-quarter earnings Tuesday that exceeded analysts’ expectations for profit and revenue. The beat came as revenue from interest income and investment banking was better than expected. Goldman Sachs also reported profit and revenue that exceeded analysts’ expectations when it reported earnings Monday. Profit for the bank jumped 28% from the year-earlier period due to a rebound in capital markets activity. Goldman shares rose about 3% Monday following the news.
5. In talks
The company logo for Salesforce.com is displayed on the Salesforce Tower in New York City, U.S., March 7, 2019.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
Salesforce shares dropped about 7% on Monday after a report that the company is in advanced talks to acquire data-management firm Informatica. The price discussed is below Informatica’s closing stock price on Friday of $38.48, according to the Wall Street Journal. If a deal goes through, it would be Salesforce’s largest acquisition since purchasing Slack for about $28 billion in 2021. Informatica shares fell 6.5% on Monday and its market cap currently sits at about $10.6 billion.
— CNBC’s Alex Harring, Hakyung Kim, Ruxandra Iordache, Lora Kolodny, Jeff Cox, Alex Koller and Hugh Son contributed to this report.
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