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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

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

[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
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

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.