Hi Everyone,
The stock market finished slightly higher following another quiet and choppy day on Wall Street, as the bullish consolidation continues. The Dow was up 154 or 0.6%, to 26,025, the Nasdaq gained 110, or 1.1%, to 10,056, while the S&P 500 rose by 21, or 0.7%, to 3,118. Decliners outnumbered advancing issues by a 3-to-2 ratio on the NYSE, where volume remained a bit light.
Traders said that today’s session once again showed just how resilient U.S. stocks are in the face of an avalanche of negative headlines. As one trader explained, “Bulls clearly bought into the overnight weakness today, and while the market breadth was weak in early trading, we saw a broader afternoon rally, with small-caps closing the session in a very positive fashion.”
Tech stocks, especially mega-cap issues, had yet another positive session, with Apple’s (AAPL, + 2.7%) record-high boosting confidence. The company’s annual developer conference, the WWDC, kicked off today, and the confirmation of the rumors that Apple will use its own chips in its laptops and desktop propelled the stock to a new high. Microsoft’s (MSFT, + 2.8%) also hit a new record high, following in the footsteps of Apple, so it’s no surprise that the Nasdaq also closed at its highest level in history.
Safe-haven assets had a positive session despite the intraday rally in stocks, and besides Treasuries, gold benefited the most from the increasing COVID-related worries. The precious metal closed today’s session at its highest level since late-2012, nearing the $1800 per ounce level, and it’s slowly creeping closer to its all-time high from 2011. The massive quantitative easing programs by the Fed and other central banks could also increase demand for gold down the road, even though inflation is not a concern currently due to the pandemic’s demand destruction.
Even though the continued tensions between India and China contributed to today’s rally in the price of oil, the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) surprisingly bullish outlook also helped the commodity. According to the IEA, global demand is set to recover relatively quickly from the pandemic’s disruption. Since a lot of supply went offline over the past few months, the crude oil market might even be tight in 2021. The WTI crude oil contract closed above $40 per barrel today, after going briefly negative back in April. Despite the continued demand-related fears, the commodity remains in a bullish trend.
As always, have a great evening and stay tuned!!!
Joe
