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Stock market lifted by mega-cap tech
10-Feb-20 16:15 ET
Dow +174.31 at 29276.73, Nasdaq +107.88 at 9628.41, S&P +24.38 at 3352.09

https://www.briefing.com/stock-market-update

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market finished strong on Monday, with shares of mega-cap technology companies propelling the S&P 500 (+0.7%) and Nasdaq Composite (+1.1%) to new closing records. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.6%) and Russell 2000 (+0.7%) performed in-line with the S&P 500.

Three names largely behind today's advance were Amazon (AMZN 2133.91, +54.63, +2.6%), Microsoft (MSFT 188.70, +4.81, +2.6%), and Alphabet (GOOG 1508.68, +29.45, +2.0%), which each rose at least 2.0%. Investors presumably remained assured that these tech giants offered a good mix of growth and safety, especially amid the coronavirus outbreak.

In turn, the consumer discretionary (+1.3%) and information technology (+1.4%) sectors were among the sector leaders, as well as the defensive-oriented real estate sector (+1.2%). The energy sector (-0.8%) continued to underperform, as WTI crude ($49.57/bbl, -0.78, -1.6%) fell back below $50/bbl amid lingering concerns about end-demand due to the coronavirus.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 52.26, +2.53, +5.1%) outperformed following a speculative report that Apple (AAPL 321.55, +1.52, +0.5%) could use its chips instead of Intel's (INTC 66.39, +0.37, +0.6%) in future Macs. IBM (IBM 154.43, +1.02, +0.7%) will reportedly deploy Slack's (WORK 26.57, +3.58, +15.6%) platform for all its employees.

In M&A activity, Taubman Centers (TCO 53.12, +18.45, +53.2%) agreed to be acquired by Simon Property (SPG 143.06, +2.04, +1.5%) for $52.50/share in cash. Xerox (XRX 37.69, +0.52, +1.4%) increased its offer to acquire HP Inc. (HPQ 21.90, +0.17, +0.8%) by $2.00 to $24.00/share in cash and stock.

U.S. Treasuries posted modest gains, pushing yields lower across the curve. The 2-yr yield declined one basis point to 1.38%, and the 10-yr yield declined three basis points to 1.55%. The U.S. Dollar Index increased 0.2% to 98.85.

Investors did not receive any notable economic data on Monday. Looking ahead, the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index for January and the JOLTS - Job Openings report for December will be released on Tuesday.

Nasdaq Composite +7.3% YTD
S&P 500 +3.8% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +2.6% YTD
Russell 2000 -0.1% YTD

Market Snapshot
Dow 29276.73 +174.31 (0.60%)
Nasdaq 9628.41 +107.88 (1.13%)
SP 500 3352.09 +24.38 (0.73%)
10-yr Note +2/32 1.565
NYSE Adv 1694 Dec 1181 Vol 846.6 mln
Nasdaq Adv 1952 Dec 1238 Vol 2.2 bln

Industry Watch
Strong: Consumer Discretionary, Information Technology, Real Estate
Weak: Energy

Moving the Market

-- S&P 500 and Nasdaq close at new highs

-- Stock market finishes strong, thanks to strength in the mega-cap technology stocks

-- Continued weakness in energy stocks amid another decline in oil prices

WTI crude falls back below $50 per barrel
10-Feb-20 15:25 ET
Dow +120.16 at 29222.58, Nasdaq +87.12 at 9607.65, S&P +17.94 at 3345.65

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 is up 0.6%, and the Russell 2000 is up 0.5%.

One last look at the S&P 500 sectors shows consumer discretionary (+1.0%), real estate (+0.8%), and information technology (+0.7%) leading in gains. Conversely, the energy (-1.4%) and financials (-0.2%) sectors lag.

WTI crude fell $0.78 (-1.6%) to $49.57/bbl.