Closing Stock Market Summary: Stocks rise in broad-based advanceThe S&P 500 rose 1.6% on Monday in a broad-based advance. The small-cap Russell 2000 (+2.4%) and S&P MidCap 400 (+2.4%) outperformed with 2.4% gains, followed by the Nasdaq Composite (+1.9%) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (+1.5%).
All 11 sectors within the S&P 500 ended the day in positive territory, with energy (+2.3%), financials (+2.3%), consumer discretionary (+2.2%), and information technology (+1.9%) finishing atop the standings. The utilities sector (+0.3%) was today's laggard.
Value/cyclical stocks had a nice advantage for most of the day, until the technology stocks narrowed the gap intraday. Apple (AAPL 114.96, +2.68, +2.4%), for instance, finished higher by 2.4% after being up just 0.5% in the morning.
Analyst upgrades, M&A activity, and another positive vaccine update from Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 147.11, +1.45, +1.0%) were corporate-related drivers of sentiment for many cyclical stocks. Other positive factors were House Speaker Pelosi saying a stimulus bill is still possible and quarter-end rebalancing, which favored the financial and energy sectors.
A separate viewpoint was rooted more in technical observation than news. The lack of volatility, and market-moving events, suggested today was a momentum trade from Friday, with performance aided by a recognition the S&P 500 and Dow had declined for four straight weeks.
Notably, the S&P 500 closed below its 50-day moving average (3353) despite spending a healthy portion of the afternoon above the key technical level.
U.S. Treasuries were stagnant during today's stock market gains. The 2-yr yield increased one basis point to 0.14%, and the 10-yr yield was unchanged at 0.66%. The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.4% to 94.27. WTI crude futures rose 0.7%, or $0.29, to $40.54/bbl.
Investors did not receive any economic data on Monday. The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index for September, the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index for July, and the Advance August reports for Intl Trade in Goods, Retail Inventories, and Wholesale Inventories will be released on Tuesday.
- Nasdaq Composite +23.9% YTD
- S&P 500 +3.7% YTD
- Dow Jones Industrial Average -3.3% YTD
- Russell 2000 -9.5% YTD