The Dow rises 175 points as investors hope for Israel-Hamas ceasefire

The stock market started off well on Monday, following a few weeks of bloodbaths and some amazing earnings reports. Investors are pouring money into the stock market, hoping that the Fed will soon slash interest rates. 

Meanwhile, there are some reports that Hamas has accepted a cease-fire proposal from Egypt and Qatar to end the war with Israel, which boosted the confidence of investors. Israel has not yet released an official statement on the matter, and there is a possibility that it will refuse the proposal, as per a Reuters report.

There has been no decline in oil prices, with West Texas Intermediate at $78.71 a barrel, up 0.77%, and Brent at $83.51 a barrel, up 0.66%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped roughly 0.4%, or 176 points, to 38,852 as the market closed. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 1.1%, while the S&P 500 gained 1%.

Spirit drops over 9% while other airline stocks soar

Spirit Airlines reported its 10th consecutive quarterly loss of $160 million and expects another loss next quarter. The airline still has $1.5 billion in debt that it has to pay off in the next couple of years. Its debt due 2025 is trading at 73 cents on the dollar, and its 2026 debt is at 55 cents. Following the news, the stock declined 9.7% by the end of the day.

On the other hand, Spirit Airlines’ rivals soar on Monday. American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines were among the top-performing stocks, up 5.7%, 4.8%, and 4.4%, respectively.

Stocks of Paramount soar amid acquisition discussions

Shares of Paramount Global went up 3% by the end of the day amid ongoing discussions about who will acquire the streaming and entertainment company.

Paramount Global is reportedly in formal talks with Sony Pictures Entertainment and Apollo Global Management for a takeover bid, according to the New York Times.

Last week, Reuters reported that Paramount wouldn’t extend its exclusive merger discussions with Skydance, the film production company led by David Ellison when it expired Friday.

Meanwhile, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett revealed last weekend that the company dumped all of its remaining shares of Paramount — that too at a loss.

Investors pour money into AI stocks

Micron Technology’s stock gained over 4.5% after Baird upgraded it to outperform from neutral, saying there is plenty of room for growth for shares. So far, in 2024, Micron Technology Inc. shares are up 40%. 

Last month, the semiconductor manufacturing company was reported to receive $6.1 billion in CHIPS and Science Act funds to build chip fabrication plants (fabs) in central New York and Idaho. The Biden administration said the investments across New York and Idaho would create 70,000 jobs.

Similarly, Super Micro Computer, which saw a dip last week after releasing its earnings report, was in demand on Monday, gaining over 4.5% in the late afternoon trading. Nvidia was up 3.3% shortly before the market closed.

AI makes Warren Buffett nervous

Warren Buffett admittedly isn’t an expert on artificial intelligence — but what he does know makes him nervous. Speaking at a question-and-answer session at the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders conference Saturday, Buffett likened the advent of AI to his views on nuclear weapons.

In its latest earnings report, Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire reported $21 billion in cash and Treasuries, bringing it to a record $189 billion last quarter — a 13% increase in just three months. In the same quarter, Berkshire offloaded a net $17 billion worth of stocks and bought back $2.6 billion worth of its own stock, up from $2.2 billion in the prior quarter.

The stock was flat most of the day, closing the day with a 1% gain.

Bitcoin jumps to $64,000

Bitcoin rebounded to $64,000 on Monday after experiencing a significant decline last week. The latest surge in Bitcoin price comes amid the resurgence of spot Bitcoin ETFs.

Grayscale’s Bitcoin ETF has finally seen inflows. According to data compiled by Farside, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which is the biggest Bitcoin ETF in terms of assets, received $63 million from investors on Friday. This marks the end of daily outflows that had been occurring for almost four months since its conversion to a spot ETF structure in January.

-Rocio Fabbro, Melvin Backman, and Britney Nguyen contributed to the article