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S&P 500 and Dow rally to fresh record highs
05-Apr-21 16:15 ET
Dow +373.98 at 33527.19, Nasdaq +225.49 at 13705.62, S&P +58.03 at 4077.90

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

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+1.4%) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (+1.1%) rallied to fresh record highs on Monday, as the market keyed off strong employment and non-manufacturing data for March and positive momentum. The Nasdaq Composite performed slightly better with a 1.7% gain, while the Russell 2000 increased just 0.5%.

Last week when the stock market was closed for Good Friday, the March employment report showcased 916,000 additions to nonfarm payrolls (Briefing.com consensus 627,000) and a 6.0% unemployment rate (Briefing.com consensus 6.0%), versus 6.2% in February. Today, the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index increased to a record 63.7% in March (Briefing.com consensus 58.5%) from 55.3% in February.

Both growth and value stocks reacted positively today, but interestingly, it was the growth stocks that set the pace and the mega-caps that provided influential leadership. The S&P 500 information technology (+2.0%), communication services (+2.3%), and consumer discretionary (+2.3%) sectors, which contain the mega-caps, rose about 2%.

The energy sector (-2.4%), on the other hand, was a noticeable pocket of weakness and was the only sector that closed lower. Energy stocks ran into profit-taking interest amid a sharp decline in oil prices ($58.69/bbl, -2.72, -4.4%).

In the mega-cap domain, Tesla (TSLA 691.05, +29.30, +4.4%) reported a record quarter for Q1 deliveries while the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Alphabet (GOOG 2225.55, +87.80, +4.1%) in a copyright dispute with Oracle (ORCL 74.16, +2.35, +3.3%). The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK 214.70, +4.53) advanced 2.2%.

Aside from the big economic reports, there were other indicators that suggested the economic reopening is gathering momentum.

For example, the White House COVID-19 Data Director said there was an average of more than 3 million doses per day over the past week, Norwegian (NCLH 29.71, +1.99, +7.2%) outlined plans to resume cruise operations from U.S. ports in July, and Morgan Stanley upgraded MGM Resorts (MGM 41.70, +2.00, +5.0%) to Overweight due to Las Vegas data suggesting the recovery is occurring faster and stronger than expected.

In the Treasury market, activity was more reserved following an abbreviated session on Friday. The 10-yr yield increased one basis point to 1.72% (up four bps from Thursday's settlement), and the 2-yr yield was unchanged at 0.18% (up three bps from Thursday's settlement). The U.S. Dollar Index decreased 0.5% to 92.60.

Reviewing Monday's (and Friday's) economic data:

March nonfarm payrolls increased by 916,000 (Briefing.com consensus 627,000). March private sector payrolls increased by 780,000 (Briefing.com consensus 470,000). March unemployment rate was 6.0% (Briefing.com consensus 6.0%), versus 6.2% in February.
The key takeaway from the employment report is that it was indicative of an economy that is gaining momentum from reopening activity.
The ISM Non-Manufacturing Index increased to 63.7% in March (Briefing.com consensus 58.5%) from 55.3% in February. The dividing line between expansion and contraction is 50.0%. The March reading marks the tenth straight month of growth for the services sector, and is the highest reading on record.
The key takeaway from the report is that it reflects some natural slowing after a long streak of monthly increases for factory orders. In turn, more current economic releases, like the ISM Manufacturing Index for March, will feed a belief that factory orders are destined to rebound in coming months.
Factory orders for manufactured goods decreased 0.8% m/m in February (Briefing.com consensus -0.5%) after increasing an upwardly revised 2.7% (from 2.6%) in January. This is the first time in ten months that factory orders have not increased.
The IHS Markit Services PMI for March was revised higher to 60.4 from 59.8 in the preliminary reading.

Investors will not receive any notable economic data on Tuesday.

Russell 2000 +14.7% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +9.5% YTD
S&P 500 +8.6% YTD
Nasdaq Composite +6.3% YTD

Crude futures settle lower by 4%
05-Apr-21 15:30 ET
Dow +547.09 at 33700.30, Nasdaq +210.26 at 13690.39, S&P +52.79 at 4072.66

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 is up 1.3% and is on pace to close at a fresh record high.

One last look at the S&P 500 sectors shows information technology (+2.0%), consumer discretionary (+2.5%), and communication services (+2.2%) still leading the advance with gains of at least 2.0% due to the influence of their mega-cap components, while the energy (-2.1%) and real estate (-0.1%) sectors trade lower.

WTI crude futures settled lower by 4.4%, or $2.72, to $58.69/bbl.