S&P 500 jumps as big tech soaks up demand, shrugs off rising Treasury yields

Investing.com -- The S&P 500 rallied Monday, as big tech shrugged off an ongoing climb in yields as investors looked ahead to ongoing quarterly earnings.  

The S&P 500 rose 1.1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1% or 318 points, and the Nasdaq gained 1.3%.

Big tech soaks up demand, but Apple weaker as iPhone 15 China sales disappoint

Big tech, excluding Apple, were on the front foot, led by Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL) as investors shrugged of rising Treasury yields.

Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) was pressured by worries that sales of its iPhone 15 were lower in China in the earlier weeks after release, when compared to the iPhone 14, pointing to softer demand.

Sales of iPhone 15 fell by a double-digit percentage from its predecessor amid stiff competition from Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro, Jefferies said in a note.

Lululemon jumps ahead of S&P 500 entry

Lululemon Athletica Inc (NASDAQ:LULU) rose 10% as the athleisurewear maker is set to join the S&P 500 on Wednesday, replacing Activision.

“We look upon the addition of shares to the major index as a potential catalyst for incremental interest and buying,” Oppenheimer said in a recent note.

News Corp rises on activist investor interest

News (NASDAQ:NWS) rose more than 3% on media reports that activist investor Starboard Value has increased its stake in Rupert Murdoch's media company amid plans to implement strategic and governance changes to boost the share price.

Starboard Value recommended selling News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA)'s digital real estate businesses, including Realtor.com, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Charles Schwab Q3 earnings top, but revenue falls short estimates

Charles Schwab Corp (NYSE:SCHW) reported mixed third-quarter results after revenue fell short of estimates, but the fall in deposits wasn’t as bad as feared.

Charles Schwab is down nearly 40% year to date, as the brokerage firm has suffered as client moves cash into high-yield products.

Charles Schwab earnings comes ahead of the further quarterly results this week from the remaining three major Wall Street banks including Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), and Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS).  

Pfizer cuts guidance, but rallies on Jefferies' upgrade; COVID vaccine makers stumble

Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) was upgraded to Jefferies to buy from hold as the pharmaceutical giant’s plan to cut $3.5 billion costs is expected to bolster earnings. Its shares jumped 4%.

Pfizer on Friday cut its full-year guidance on earnings and revenue after warning of $5.5 billion in write downs in Q3 related to lower-than-expected sales of its COVID-19 vaccine and treatment.

Covid vaccine related sales of about $1.6 billion made up less than 15% of Pfizer’s overall $12.73 billion revenue reported in the second quarter.

Other COVID vaccine makers including Pfizer's German partner BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX), Novavax Inc (NASDAQ:NVAX) and Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) fell sharply on worries about slowing Covid-vaccine related sales.