Mega-cap tech leads market higher
08-Jul-20 16:20 ET
Dow +177.10 at 26067.30, Nasdaq +148.61 at 10492.50, S&P +24.62 at 3169.81
briefing.com
[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 advanced 0.8% on Wednesday, recovering some of yesterday's decline, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.4% to close at another record high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.7%) and Russell 2000 (+0.8%) performed more in-line with the benchmark index.
The market appeared to receive a late-day boost after St. Louis Fed President Bullard (non-FOMC voter) told CNBC that he is optimistic on a recovery, as the economy appears to be tracking very well right now. Prior to Mr. Bullard's comments, the S&P 500 was trading near its flat line in a lackluster session.
Apple (AAPL 381.37, +8.68, +2.3%), Microsoft (MSFT 212.83, +4.58, +2.2%), and Amazon (AMZN 3081.11, +80.99, +2.7%), which were strong all session, each rose more than 2.0% to provide the boost in the information technology (+1.6%) and consumer discretionary (+1.5%) sectors. The materials sector fell 1.5%, but no other sector declined more than 0.3%.
Advancing issues had a modest advantage over declining issues at the NYSE and Nasdaq, reflecting a mixed market, but the continued outperformance of the market's largest technology stocks made a big difference at the index level. New macro developments were lacking today, but there was some notable corporate news.
Biogen (BIIB 280.19, +11.84, +4.4%) submitted its application to the FDA for its Alzheimer's drug, Twitter (TWTR 35.41, +2.42, +7.3%) may reportedly be working on a subscription service, and National General (NGHC 33.84, +13.43, +65.8%) agreed to be acquired by Allstate (ALL 88.22, -4.43, -4.8%) for $4 billion in cash.
U.S. Treasuries finished near their flat lines in a tight-ranged session. The 2-yr yield was unchanged at 0.16%, and the 10-yr yield was unchanged at 0.65%. The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.4% to 96.47. WTI crude increased 0.8%, or $0.31, to $40.91/bbl, even as the EIA reported an unexpected build in weekly crude inventories.
Reviewing Wednesday's economic data:
- Consumer credit contracted by $18.2 billion in May (Briefing.com consensus -$22.0 billion) after declining an downwardly revised $70.2 bln (from -$68.7 billion) in April.
- The key takeaway from the report is that May marked the third straight contraction in consumer credit that was led by a decline in revolving credit, which underscores the more restrictive credit stance adopted by lenders in the wake of the COVID shutdown and massive spike in unemployment.
- The weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index increased 2.2% following a 1.8% decline in the prior week.
Looking ahead, investors will receive the weekly Initial and Continuing Claims report and Wholesale Inventories for May on Thursday.
- Nasdaq Composite +16.9% YTD
- S&P 500 -1.9% YTD
- Dow Jones Industrial Average -8.7% YTD
- Russell 2000 -14.5% YTD
Market Snapshot
| Dow | 26067.30 | +177.10 | (0.68%) | | Nasdaq | 10492.50 | +148.61 | (1.44%) | | SP 500 | 3169.81 | +24.62 | (0.78%) | | 10-yr Note | -1/32 | 0.663 |
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| | NYSE | Adv 1727 | Dec 1208 | Vol 1.0 bln | | Nasdaq | Adv 1858 | Dec 1353 | Vol 4.0 bln |
Industry Watch
| Strong: Information Technology, Consumer Discretionary, Financials, Utilities |
| | Weak: Materials, Consumer Staples, Real Estate |
Moving the Market
-- Stock market closes near session highs following positive commentary from St. Louis Fed President Bullard
-- Continued strength in the mega-cap technology stocks, which lifted the Nasdaq to a new record close
-- Choppy price action, reflective of consolidation action
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WTI crude futures settle in the green
08-Jul-20 15:25 ET
Dow +155.87 at 26046.07, Nasdaq +125.93 at 10469.82, S&P +21.10 at 3166.29
[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 is now trading higher by 0.6%, just short of its intraday high of 0.8%.
One last look at the S&P 500 sectors shows information technology (+1.4%), consumer discretionary (+1.2%), utilities (+1.1%), and communication services (+1.0%) sectors leading the market higher. The materials (-1.7%) remains today's laggard by a wide margin.
WTI crude futures settled today's session higher by $0.31 (+0.8%) to $40.91/bbl. |
