Tag Archives: Dow Jones

Dow hits record high as financial stocks rise

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S.,

By Tanya Agrawal

(Reuters) – The Dow Jones Industrial average opened at a record high on Monday, driven by financial stocks, after the index capped off its best week since 2011 following Donald Trump’s unexpected victory in the U.S. presidential election.

Since Trump’s triumph last Tuesday, investors have been betting on his campaign promises to simplify regulation in the health and financial sectors and boost spending on infrastructure.

The financial index rose 2.18 percent to its highest level since 2008. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan provided the biggest boost to both the S&P 500 and the Dow.

The Nasdaq Composite was little changed, weighed down by tech giants Apple, Facebook and Microsoft.

Stock markets around the world were affected by a continued selloff in the global bond market as investors looked for more clarity regarding Trump’s policies.

The risk of faster domestic inflation and wider budget deficits if Trump goes on a spending binge sent yields on U.S. Treasury and other benchmark global bonds higher. The dollar index surged to an 11-month high.

Yields on the U.S. 10-year Treasury notes climbed to their highest since January on Monday at 2.30 percent, while 30-year paper shot above 3 percent.

“The bond market could subject the Trump rally to a halt,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York.

“The prospect of higher inflation due to higher fiscal spending under the Trump administration has caused bonds to sell off and while higher inflation is good for the U.S. economy in the long run, it is seen as a negative factor in the short term because this market is used to near zero interest rates.”

At 9:45 a.m. EDT the Dow Jones industrial average was up 44.14 points, or 0.23 percent, at 18,891.8.

The S&P 500 was up 2.23 points, or 0.1 percent, at 2,166.68.

The Nasdaq Composite was down 0.67 points, or 0.01 percent, at 5,236.44.

Six of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower, with the utilities index’s 0.93 percent fall leading the decliners.

A host of U.S. Federal Reserve officials are scheduled to make appearances on Monday, including Dallas Fed President Rob Kaplan, Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker and San Francisco Fed President John Williams.

The central bank is widely expected to raise interest rates at its December meeting, with traders pricing in an 81 percent chance, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said on Friday economic growth prospects appear strong enough for a gradual hike in interest rates.

Oil prices were at around three-month lows as the prospect of another year of oversupply and weak prices overshadowed chances that OPEC would reach a deal to cut output. [O/R]

Harman International rose 25.5 percent to $109.99 after Samsung Electronics announced an $8 billion deal to buy the company.

Mentor Graphics surged as much as 18.9 percent to a record high of $36.50 after Siemens agreed to buy the company in a $4.5 billion deal.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,503 to 1,281. On the Nasdaq, 1,654 issues rose and 822 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed 65 new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 291 new highs and 10 new lows.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

Dow hits record high as markets ride on Trump win

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) the day after the U.S. presidential election in New York City,

By Yashaswini Swamynathan

(Reuters) – The Dow Jones industrial average hit a record intraday high on Thursday as investors bet that President-elect Donald Trump would lead a shift away from austerity policies.

Investors are seeing Trump’s policies such higher defense and infrastructure spending, tax cuts and deregulation of banks and as being more business-friendly than Democrat Hillary Clinton’s position of maintaining status quo.

“The markets are adjusting to a new reality and are giving Trump the benefit of doubt,” said Adam Sarhan, chief executive officer of Sarhan Capital.

“He does have some problems with immigration and with social issues, but his economic policies, at least in the short-term, are perceived to be stimulative and net good for the economy and that’s why stocks are rallying.”

The dollar jumped to a more than two-week high of 98.92, while gold turned flat as investors returned to riskier assets such as stocks.

The Mexican peso continued its downward momentum against the dollar as Trump’s policies are considered deeply negative for the country.

At 9:43 a.m. ET (1343 GMT) the Dow Jones industrial average was up 161.69 points, or 0.87 percent, at 18,751.38.

The S&P 500 was up 17.11 points, or 0.79 percent, at 2,180.37. The index is less than 20 points shy of its record intraday high.

The Nasdaq Composite index was up 45.40 points, or 0.86 percent, at 5,296.47.

Financial and healthcare stocks rose, continuing to hold their positions as the top performers among the 11 major S&P 500 sectors in the post-Trump victory rally.

Consumer staples, utilities and real-estate – the defensive parts of the market – remained the big losers.

As investors decipher what a Trump presidency would mean to the financial markets, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard repeated his call that a single interest rate increase would be adequate for the foreseeable future.

Macy’s rose 6.4 percent to $40.85 after the department store operator raised its full-year sales forecast and announced a partnership to monetize some of its real-estate assets.

Shares of drugmakers such as Merck, Celgene and Gilead rose on Trump’s victory and after California voters turned down a ballot initiative aimed at reining in rising prices for prescription drugs.

IBM provided the biggest boost to the S&P and the Dow, rising 2.7 percent to $159.02 after Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded the technology services provider’s stock and raised its price target.

Walt Disney and Nordstrom are expected to report earnings after market closes.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,725 to 1,049. On the Nasdaq, 1,756 issues rose and 648 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed 70 new 52-week highs and three new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 221 new highs and 14 new lows.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

S&P 500, Dow Jones at Record Highs

raders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., July 12, 2016

(Reuters) – The S&P 500 and the Dow set new all-time highs at the open on Wednesday as investor optimism rose amid signs of a steadying global economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 37.46 points, or 0.2 percent, to 18,385.13. It hit a record of 18,390.16.

The S&P 500 gained 3.81 points, or 0.18 percent, to 2,155.95. It hit a record of 2,156.45.

The Nasdaq Composite added 9.77 points, or 0.19 percent, to 5,032.59.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza)

Wall Street opens higher as bargain hunt begins

Specialist traders work inside a post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange

(Reuters) – U.S. stocks opened sharply higher on Tuesday as investors rushed to pick up stocks beaten down by the fears and uncertainty surrounding Britain’s decision to exit the European Union.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 117.62 points, or 0.69 percent, at 17,257.86, the S&P 500 was up 14.78 points, or 0.74 percent, at 2,015.32 and the Nasdaq composite was up 50.67 points, or 1.1 percent, at 4,645.11.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru)

Wall St. flat as earnings fail to excite investors

Wall Street

By Abhiram Nandakumar

(Reuters) – U.S. stock indexes were flat on Friday after poor quarterly reports from technology bellwethers Microsoft and Alphabet outweighed gains from steadying oil prices.

Microsoft was the biggest drag on all three major indexes.

Crude rose about 1 percent on signs of strong gasoline consumption in the United States. [O/R]

With recent economic data indicating a sluggish pace of economic growth globally and crude prices hovering near five-month highs, earnings have become a swing factor for stocks.

The S&P 500 has staged a sharp recovery from a steep selloff earlier this year and is inching toward its all-time high, helped by a recent rebound in oil, a cautious Federal Reserve and companies beating tempered expectations.

The index is up half a percent for the week, having posted gains on the first three days.

“We’re back to the every other day theory, bouncing around a little, but I don’t see too strong a sentiment either way,” said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida.

“It’s still a very cautious environment,” Brown said, adding that the negative tone from the quarterly reports were expected.

At 9:42 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 11.91 points, or 0.07 percent, at 17,994.43, the S&P 500 was down 1.52 points, or 0.07 percent, at 2,089.96 and the Nasdaq Composite was down 35.84 points, or 0.72 percent, at 4,910.05.

Eight of the 10 major S&P sectors were higher, but the index was under pressure by a 1.4 percent decline in the technology sector

Alphabet and Microsoft were down 3.7 and 6.5 percent respectively after both missed profit and revenue estimates.

S&P 500 companies are seen posting a 7.2 percent fall in first-quarter profit, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, and shares of companies failing to beat the already lowered expectations are getting hammered.

McDonald’s rose 0.7 percent to $126.63 after the company’s profit beat estimates.

General Electric was off 1.1 percent at $30.63 after it reported lower organic revenue.

Caterpillar shares were down 0.6 percent at $78.16 after its results.

Starbucks slipped 3 percent after missing sales expectations, while Visa was down 2.3 percent after it cut full-year revenue forecast.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,885 to 761. On the Nasdaq, 1,460 issues rose and 740 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed six new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 19 new highs and six lows.

(Reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Don Sebastian)

Wall Street Begins Year Sharply Lower After China Selloff

By Caroline Valetkevitch

(Reuters) – U.S. stocks began 2016 sharply lower on Monday, with the Dow marking its worst start to a year since 2008, after weak Chinese economic data fanned fears of a global slowdown.

Indexes partly recovered late in the session, following a turnaround in oil prices that caused energy shares to cut losses. At its low for the day, the Dow was down 467 points and was headed for its worst first-day percentage drop since 1932.

Surveys showed factory activity in the world’s second-largest economy shrank sharply in December, sparking a 7-percent slide in Chinese shares that triggered a trading halt. Adding to investors’ worries, China’s central bank fixed the yuan at a 4-1/2 year low, further weakening it against the dollar.

U.S. data sparked further concern as factory activity weakened unexpectedly in December, according to the Institute for Supply Management.

“There was the turmoil overnight overseas that kind of set the tone … (but) all of the negatives out there have been out there for a while,” said Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in Greenwich, Connecticut.

“The fact that we closed down on the year, the Fed tightened, it crystallized in investors’ minds that we’re not in the environment we were in throughout most of the recovery.”

The selloff was widespread but not as deep as the slide caused by worries of a China-led global slowdown in August, when the Dow tumbled more than 1,000 points at one point.

Nasdaq led the day’s decline and Amazon <AMZN.O>, down 5.8 percent at $636.99, weighed the most on the S&amp;P 500 and Nasdaq, while the Nasdaq Biotech Index <NBI> dropped 3.2 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average <DJI> closed down 276.09 points, or 1.58 percent, to 17,148.94, the S&amp;P 500 <SPX> lost 31.28 points, or 1.53 percent, to 2,012.66 and the Nasdaq Composite <IXIC> dropped 104.32 points, or 2.08 percent, to 4,903.09.

Both the S&amp;P 500 and the Nasdaq had their worst starts to a year since 2001.

All 10 S&P sectors ended lower, but the energy index <SPNY> was down the least, with a loss of just 0.2 percent.

Crude oil ended a volatile session down slightly following concern about Middle East tensions, but Brent turned higher late.

Tesla <TSLA.O> fell 6.9 percent to $223.41. The electric car maker delivered 17,400 vehicles in the fourth quarter, just above the low end of its guidance.

About 8.5 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, above the 7.2 billion daily average for the past 20 trading days, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 2,127 to 977, for a 2.18-to-1 ratio on the downside; on the Nasdaq, 2,202 issues fell and 652 advanced for a 3.38-to-1 ratio favoring decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 1 new 52-week highs and 14 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 12 new highs and 113 new lows.

(Additional reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Nick Zieminski)