Closing Stock Market SummaryThe large-cap indices set intraday and closing record highs on Monday after President Trump signed the $900 billion stimulus and omnibus spending bill. The S&P 500 (+0.9%), Nasdaq Composite (+0.7%), and Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.7%) posted respectable gains, while the Russell 2000 (-0.4%) closed lower after opening at an all-time high.
The market was particularly pleased with the president's signature because it put an end to the speculation of a pocket veto, which would have further delayed the bills. On a related note, the House was expected to vote today on increasing the stimulus checks to $2000, but it's unlikely to receive the 60 votes needed to pass in the Senate.
Early in the day, it seemed like the market was going to rehash the recovery script in which the leadership roles are bestowed to the cyclical, value, and small-cap stocks, but the market quickly defaulted to its main cast of mega-cap characters on no specific news catalysts.
Apple (AAPL 136.69, +4.72, +3.6%), Amazon (AMZN 3283.96, +111.27, +3.5%), and Facebook (FB 277.00, +9.60, +3.6%), to name a few, rose about 3.5% on slightly above-average volume. Accordingly, the communication services (+1.9%), consumer discretionary (+1.5%), and information technology (+1.2%) sectors, which are home to the mega-caps, advanced more than 1.0%.
On the downside, the energy (-0.5%) and materials (-0.4%) sectors fell into negative territory after being up more than 1.0% to start the session. A reversal in oil prices ($47.64, -0.68, -1.4%) weighed on sentiment in the energy space.
As noted, trading volume wasn't out of the ordinary for the mega-caps, suggesting investors either played it safe heading into the final days of the year and/or they rotated out of recent winners and into these mega-cap names. Interestingly, recent IPO stocks, which were high-flyers and not the "safest" stocks, saw noticeable weakness today.
U.S. Treasuries finished near their flat lines after starting the session with modest losses. The 2-yr yield was flat at 0.12%, and the 10-yr yield increased one basis point to 0.93%. The U.S. Dollar Index was little changed at 90.32.
Investors did not receive any economic data on Monday. Looking ahead, investors will receive the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index for October on Tuesday.
- Nasdaq Composite +43.8% YTD
- Russell 2000 +19.7% YTD
- S&P 500 +15.6% YTD
- Dow Jones Industrial Average +6.5% YTD