Closing Stock Market SummaryEach of the major indices closed at fresh record highs on Wednesday in a session that featured the mega-caps as leaders and Joe Biden inaugurated as the 46th president. The Nasdaq Composite (+2.0%) outperformed with a 2% gain, followed by gains in the S&P 500 (+1.4%), Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.8%) and Russell 2000 (+0.4%).
Shares of Apple (AAPL 132.03, +4.20, +3.3%), Microsoft (MSFT 224.34, +7.90, +3.7%), Amazon (AMZN 3263.38, +142.62, +4.5%), Alphabet (GOOG 1886.90, +96.04, +5.4%), and Facebook (FB 267.48, +6.38, +2.4%) gained between 2-5%. The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK 207.13, +5.20, +2.6%) increased 2.6%.
Netflix (NFLX 586.34, +84.57, +16.9%) was credited as a supporting catalyst for the mega-cap rally, as shares surged 17% after the company provided bullish earnings results, guidance, and commentary. Notably, Netflix said it believes it no longer needs to raise external financing for day-to-day operations.
In turn, the S&P 500 communication services (+3.6%), consumer discretionary (+2.3%), and information technology (+2.0%) sectors claimed today's top spots.
Every other sector, except financials (-0.5%), as well as small-cap and mid-cap stocks contributed to the steady advance, albeit to a lesser extent. The financials sector was pressured by negative reactions to better-than-expected earnings reports from Morgan Stanley (MS 74.84, -0.15, -0.2%), U.S. Bancorp (USB 45.58, -2.49, -5.2%), and BNY Mellon (BK 42.49, -3.33, -7.3%).
Dow components UnitedHealth (UNH 350.84, -1.35, -0.4%) and Procter & Gamble (PG 131.93, -1.67, -1.3%) also closed lower despite beating EPS estimates, which factored into the relative underperformance of the Dow, versus the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.
U.S. Treasuries finished little changed in a tight-ranged session. The 2-yr yield decreased one basis point to 0.12%, and the 10-yr yield remained unchanged at 1.09%. The U.S. Dollar Index finished little changed at 90.46. WTI crude futures increased 0.6%, or $0.30, to $53.28/bbl.
Reviewing Wednesday's economic data, which were non-events:
- The NAHB Housing Market Index decreased to 83 in January (consensus 88) from 86 in December.
- The weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index decreased 1.9% following a 16.7% spike in the prior week.
Looking ahead, investors will receive the weekly Initial and Continuing Claims report, Housing Starts and Building Permits for December, and the Philadelphia Fed Index for January on Thursday.
- Russell 2000 +9.4% YTD
- Nasdaq Composite +4.4% YTD
- S&P 500 +2.6% YTD
- Dow Jones Industrial Average +1.9% YTD