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Market Snapshot

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

Dow 35625.40 +110.02 (0.31%)
Nasdaq 14793.75 -29.14 (-0.20%)
SP 500 4479.71 +11.71 (0.26%)
10-yr Note +25/32 1.250
NYSE Adv 1149 Dec 2106 Vol 751.8 mln
Nasdaq Adv 1392 Dec 2974 Vol 3.9 bln

Industry Watch
Strong: Utilities, Consumer Staples, Health Care, Information Technology
Weak: Energy, Consumer Discretionary, Financials, Materials

Moving the Market

-- S&P 500 and Dow recover early losses and close at record highs for the fifth straight session

-- Relatively disappointing economic data, geopolitical uncertainty, talk of taper plan

-- Relative strength in the defensive-oriented sectors and the top-weighted information technology sector

S&P 500 and Dow recover losses and close at record highs
16-Aug-21 16:15 ET
Dow +110.02 at 35625.40, Nasdaq -29.14 at 14793.75, S&P +11.71 at 4479.71

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.3%) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.3%) eked out intraday and closing record highs on Monday after being down as much as 0.7-0.8% in the morning. This was the fifth straight session they set record highs. The Nasdaq Composite (-0.2%) closed slightly lower while the Russell 2000 fell 0.9%.

Over the weekend and prior to the open, China reported softer-than-expected retail sales, fixed asset investment, and industrial production data for July; the Empire State Manufacturing Survey for August came in weaker than expected; the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan; and CNBC reported the Fed could start tapering as soon as October, depending on the next employment report.

Interestingly, the futures market was down very modestly, suggesting it wasn't overly concerned about the negative-sounding news flow or the continued spread of the Delta variant in the U.S.

The overreaction came in the first 90 minutes of action: the S&P 500 information technology sector declined as much as 1.1%, oil prices ($67.34, -0.47, -0.7%) declined as much as 4%, and the 10-yr yield declined as many as six basis points to 1.24%.

The rest of the session saw a steady, and mechanical, advance in the large-cap indices as investors bought the dip on no specific news. The technology sector closed higher by 0.4% amid record-setting gains in Apple (AAPL 151.12, +2.02, +1.4%) and Microsoft (MSFT 294.60, +1.75, +0.6%).

The health care (+1.1%), utilities (+0.7%), and consumer staples (+0.6%) sectors outperformed the tech sector and the benchmark index. Conversely, the energy (-1.8%), materials (-0.5%), consumer discretionary (-0.4%), and financials (-0.2%) sectors closed lower.

Energy stocks struggled, even as oil prices pared losses after OPEC+ rejected calls from the U.S. to speed up production, according to Reuters.

Tesla (TSLA 686.17, -31.00, -4.3%) was an individual laggard, falling 4% after confirming that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating incidents in which TSLA vehicles crashed into first responder scenes.

The 10-yr yield settled lower by four basis points to 1.26%, which reflected lingering growth concerns. The 2-yr yield decreased two basis points to 0.20%. The U.S. Dollar Index increased 0.1% to 92.62.

Reviewing Monday's economic data, the Empire State Manufacturing for August decelerated to 18.3 (Briefing.com consensus 26.0) from 43.0 in July. Looking ahead, investors will receive Retail Sales for July, Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization for July, Business Inventories for June, and the NAHB Housing Market Index for August on Tuesday.

S&P 500 +19.3% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +16.4% YTD
Nasdaq Composite +14.8% YTD
Russell 2000 +11.6% YTD

Crude futures
16-Aug-21 15:30 ET
Dow +58.07 at 35573.45, Nasdaq -40.01 at 14782.88, S&P +6.14 at 4474.14

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 is up 0.1% while the Russell 2000 still trades lower by 0.7%.

One last look at the S&P 500 sectors shows health care (+1.0%), utilities (+0.4%), consumer staples (+0.4%), and information technology (+0.3%) atop the leaderboard. Conversely, the energy (-1.7%), materials (-0.5%), consumer discretionary (-0.4%), and financials (-0.3%) sectors trade lower.

WTI crude futures settled lower by $0.47 (-0.7%) to $67.34 per barrel. Crude futures were down 4% earlier in the day but recovered amid news that OPEC+ doesn't want to speed up production like the U.S. wants it to.