What’s happening: The Nasdaq 100 closed at another record high on Monday after the long Independence Day weekend.
What happened: The US stock market started the week on a stronger note, sending the tech-laden index to an all-time closing high after China’s equity benchmarks hit their best levels in around two years.
The rally came amid doubts around the ability of the US to contain the covid-19 outbreak, as infections continue to rise even with various states re-imposing restrictions on business activity.
Why it matters: Investors returning from a long weekend were greeted by news of Chinese blue-chip equities climbing to their 5-year highs. Financial and technology shares set the tone for the US equity market on Monday, with Goldman Sachs Group’s stock jumping more than 5% to take the lead in the blue-chip Dow Jones index. Shares of Tesla spiked to another record high, while Amazon’s stock crossed the $3,000 mark for the first time in its history.
Investors also welcomed upbeat economic data, with the US ISM non-manufacturing index rising to 57.1 in June, from May’s reading of 45.4. Bulls were not discouraged by the fact that the figure missed expectations of 51 for June.
Sentiment was not dampened by news of Goldman Sachs analysts lowering their forecast for the US economy to a 4.6% contraction for 2020, from their prior outlook of a 4.2% contraction.
After climbing 4.6% last week, the Nasdaq 100 jumped 2.2% to a new closing record of 10,433.65 on Monday.
Amazon’s stock spiked almost 6% to close at a record high of $3,057.04. Shares of Netflix climbed around 4% closing at the $500 mark. Shares of Unum Therapeutics surged 395%, after the company reported the completion of its Kiq LLC acquisition.
After posting gains of 3.3% in the holiday-shortened week, the Dow Jones index climbed another 1.8% to settle at 26,287.03 on Monday. The S&P 500 recorded gains for five successive sessions, rising 1.6% to 3,179.72.
What to watch: With the US economic calendar being light today, investors may turn their focus back to the coronavirus numbers. So far, the US has reported over 2.9 million cases and 130,000 deaths.