S&P 500 Stays Near Unchanged Mark As Investors Look Ahead

The S&P 500 made little progress on Monday, closing slightly higher than its session low as U.S. Treasury yields pulled higher with investors looking ahead to key economic data this week. In the world of style and index investing, it's not all black and white. And things don't stay the same. Given concerns in the market about a possible economic slowdown or recession, have analysts lowered EPS estimates more than normal for S&P 500 companies?

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) closed at $26.40 on Monday, marking a +0.76% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's performance which was held back by the pullback in Treasury yields.

Analysts have been taking a closer look at S&P 500 companies’ fourth quarter earnings and the results are impressive, particularly for tech companies. Approximately 99% of all S&P 500 companies have reported their fourth quarter earnings and the results show that most of the companies beat their EPS estimates.

However, S&P 500 has been under pressure since early February's false breakout, writes Lawrence McMillan. An analysis into the S&P 500’s performance since its false breakout shows that the index is still trading below its 200-day moving average.

But the S&P 500 reversed strongly higher this week as the break of the 200dma failed and yields pulled back. This reversed trend could be attributed to the Fed Chair Jerome Powell's two-day Congressional testimony later this week. With the focus shifting to Powell's speech later this week, it is likely that the S&P 500 could remain near its unchanged mark.