Wall Street Close: Benchmarks refresh record tops as investors brace for key week
|- US equities notch all-time high closing as market sentiment improved ahead of crucial earnings, FOMC.
- Tesla’s after-market numbers were positive, Hasbro led S&P 500 gainers.
- Easy US housing numbers, covid conditions in the West also favored bulls.
- Alphabet, Apple and Microsoft are up for releasing the latest earnings on Tuesday.
US equity bulls are on the move, fueling the key indices to fresh record tops, as investors await earnings from the technology giants amid hopes of better results. Also on the positive side were softer US housing data easing pressure off the Fed ahead of Wednesday’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting as well as mixed coronavirus concerns.
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI), Nasdaq and S&P 500 all three posted all-time high closing by the end of Monday’s North American trading. While DJI and S&P 500 marked similar daily gains of 0.24%, or 82.76 and 10.44 points respectively, Nasdaq added 0.03% or 3.7 points to close around 14,840.
Market’s optimism gained momentum, extending Friday’s run-up, as the covid numbers from the northern hemisphere started easing of late. Also on the positive side were welcome earnings from Tesla and Hasbro. Furthermore, the weaker-than-expected US New Home Sales and Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index data signaled the need for the Fed’s easy-money policies.
On the contrary, NetEase slumped 14% on concerns over after-school tutoring services in China whereas Alibaba and Baidu also dropped around 7.0% and 6.0% in that order to back the heaviest two-day slump of the US-registered Chinese stock since 2008, as per Bloomberg.
Amid these plays, US 10-year Treasury yields ended Monday unchanged around 1.29% whereas the commodities traded mixed with oil up and gold down a bit.
On Tuesday, investors will be interested in earnings from Microsoft, Apply and Google-parent Alphabet. It’s worth noting that the highest numbers of S&P 500 companies are up for publishing their quarterly results this week, including the technology giants. Should the famous firms manage to cross upbeat forecasts, Wall Street will have good days ahead.
Elsewhere, Tuesday’s US Durable Good Orders will be important but the Fed holds the key to near-term market moves and may disappoint bulls if backed tapering.
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