Hi Everyone,
The major indices all finished higher for the second day in a row, as volatility remained muted on Wall Street ahead of a jam-packed few days of economic releases. The Dow was up 268 or 1.1%, to 25,743, the Nasdaq gained 56, or 0.6%, to 9,608, while the S&P 500 rose by 25, or 0.8%, to 3,081. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 7-to-3 ratio on the NYSE, where volume was moderate.
Traders said that today’s “boring” consolidation is a hallmark of bullish markets, while market breadth continues to be supportive of further gains. As one trader explained, “Even though the large-cap benchmarks didn’t mak much progress today, despite the new multi-month high in the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, small-caps remained upbeat, and the Advance-Decline line continued to surge higher, confirming the bullish trend.”
The George Floyd protests continued for the seventh day in a row, and although tonight, over 40 cities will impose some level of curfew, authorities expect another heated night. Even though the vast majority of the protests have been peaceful, violence and looting has led to at least nine casualties and over 4,000 arrests. The National Guard is now deployed in 29 states. The President also threatened to deploy the military should the protests turn more violent, but for now, investors have been focusing on the improving global economic outlook, largely ignoring the impact of the tension.
While the price of oil has now recovered a large portion of its historic COVID-related crash, OPEC and its allies are pushing to extend their unprecedented production cuts that helped to stabilize the oversupplied crude oil market. Originally, the cartel’s next meeting was scheduled for next week, but rumors have started circulating that an earlier date is being favored by several members. Oil hit its highest level since early-March thanks to the rumors, and although we still do not have a confirmed date, energy-related stocks followed the commodity higher today, and the sector could remain strong in the rest of the week as well.
As always, have a great evening and stay tuned!!!
Joe
