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Market Snapshot

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

Dow 35399.84 -55.96 (-0.16%)
Nasdaq 15265.87 +136.39 (0.90%)
SP 500 4528.79 +19.42 (0.43%)
10-yr Note +3/32 1.284
NYSE Adv 1393 Dec 1847 Vol 703.5 mln
Nasdaq Adv 2028 Dec 2361 Vol 4.0 bln

Industry Watch
Strong: Information Technology, Consumer Discretionary, Real Estate, Communication Services
Weak: Financials, Energy, Materials, Industrials

Moving the Market

-- S&P 500 and Nasdaq close at record highs on the back of the mega-cap stocks

-- Value/cyclical stocks underperformed amid lingering growth concerns

Mega-caps power S&P 500 and Nasdaq to new heights
30-Aug-21 16:15 ET
Dow -55.96 at 35399.84, Nasdaq +136.39 at 15265.87, S&P +19.42 at 4528.79

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.4%) and Nasdaq Composite (+0.9%) set intraday and closing record highs on Monday, as money continued to flow into the large growth stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.2%) and Russell 2000 (-0.5%), however, closed lower amid relative weakness in the value stocks.

Apple (AAPL 153.12, +4.52, +3.0%), Microsoft (MSFT 303.59, +3.87, +1.3%), Amazon.com (AMZN 3421.57, +71.94, +2.2%), Alphabet (GOOG 2909.39, +18.38, +0.6%), and Facebook (FB 380.66, +8.03, +2.2%) -- which account for approximately 22.5% of the S&P 500's market capitalization -- had a large say in today's action. AAPL stood out with a 3% gain.

The S&P 500 information technology (+1.1%), consumer discretionary (+0.9%), and communication services (+0.7%) sectors, which are home to these widely-owned names, were among the best-performing sectors today.

The defensive-oriented real estate (+1.2%) and health care (+0.6%) sectors also outperformed, while the cyclical financials (-1.5%), energy (-1.2%), materials (-0.2%), and industrials (-0.2%) sectors closed lower. The financials and energy sectors declined more than 1.0%.

This mega-cap leadership, and the underperformance of the cyclical stocks, was attributed to lingering growth concerns stemming from the Delta variant, Hurricane Ida, and the fate of the infrastructure package. There were some positive-sounding news involving the growth stocks, though.

For instance, the International Data Corporation (IDC) published a report that global smartphone shipments are expected to grow 7.4% yr/yr in 2021 to 1.37 billion units, thanks to a strong recovery in emerging markets. Amazon and Affirm (AFRM 99.59, +31.69, +46.7%) partnered to bring AFRM's buy-now, pay-later service to Amazon's customers.

Shares of Affirm soared 46% on the news, but it was outdone by a 64% gain in Globalstar (GSAT 2.35, +0.92, +64.3%) following an unconfirmed report that Apple will use LEO satellite communications for its next iPhone.

PayPal (PYPL 288.47, +10.14, +3.6%), meanwhile, rose 3.6% after CNBC reported that the company is exploring a stock-trading platform for its U.S. customers. Shares of Robinhood Markets (HOOD 43.64, -3.23, -6.9%) dropped 7% and extended intraday losses after SEC Chairman Gensler told Barron's that banning payment for order flow is “on the table."

Elsewhere, the Treasury market was another signpost for growth concerns, as the 10-yr yield declined three basis points to 1.29%. The 2-yr yield decreased two basis points to 0.20%. The U.S. Dollar Index was little changed at 92.69.

WTI crude futures rose 0.6%, or $0.44, to $69.21/bbl /bbl ahead of an OPEC+ meeting on Wednesday. Investors weighed the temporary shutdown of oil refineries in the Gulf Coast with a report from Reuters relaying a comment from Kuwait's oil minister that the OPEC+ oil production agreement could be reconsidered.

Monday's economic data was limited to Pending Home Sales, which unexpectedly decreased 1.8% m/m in July (Briefing.com consensus +0.5%) following a downwardly revised 2.0% decline (from -1.9%) in June.

Looking ahead, investors will receive the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index for August, the Chicago PMI for August, the FHFA Housing Price Index for June, and the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index for June on Tuesday.

S&P 500 +20.6% YTD
Nasdaq Composite +18.5% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +15.7% YTD
Russell 2000 +14.7% YTD

Crude futures settle modestly higher
30-Aug-21 15:25 ET
Dow -17.20 at 35438.60, Nasdaq +149.14 at 15278.62, S&P +24.58 at 4533.95

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 is up 0.6% and on track to close at another record high.

One last look at the S&P 500 sectors shows information technology (+1.1%) and consumer discretionary (+1.1%) up more than 1.0%, while the financials (-1.3%) and energy (-0.6%) sectors are the only sectors trading lower.

WTI crude futures settled higher by 0.6%, or $0.44, to $69.21/bbl ahead of an OPEC+ meeting on Wednesday. On a related note, Reuters reported that Kuwait's oil minister said the OPEC+ oil production agreement could be reconsidered.