Morgans AM

US stocks closed at record levels on Thursday, boosted by hope of Washington coming through on additional fiscal aid before the end of 2020. The S&P 500 gained +0.6%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced +0.8%. The Dow Jones climbed 147 points or +0.5%. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit intraday and closing records, while the Dow posted its highest-ever closing level. Real estate, materials and health care were the best-performing sectors in the S&P 500, rising more than 1% each. Johnson & Johnson rose 2.6% to lead the Dow higher.

The S&P 500 rose slightly on Wednesday amid the Federal Reserve’s latest pledge to support the economy and the apparent progress in U.S. fiscal stimulus negotiations. The broader-market index closed +0.18% higher, just below a record closing high. The Nasdaq gained +0.5%, notching intraday and closing all-time highs, as Apple and Microsoft each popped more than 2%. The Dow Jones lagged, falling 44 points, or -0.15%.

US stocks rose sharply on Tuesday as traders grew more optimistic about Congress passing another economic relief package. The Dow Jones gained +337 points or +1.13%, the S&P 500 advanced +1.29%, snapping a four-day losing streak. The Nasdaq climbed +1.25%, reaching a new record closing high. Apple led the Dow higher, jumping 5% after Nikkei reported the company will increase iPhone production by about 30% in the first half of 2021. All 11 S&P 500 sectors registered gains on Tuesday, led by energy and utilities.

US equity markets dipped on Monday as fears of additional Covid-19 restrictions offset the optimism around a vaccine rollout. The 30-stock Dow traded lower by 151-points or -0.5%. The broader S&P500 declined by -0.6%. The S&P and Dow are up 13% and 4.6%, respectively, for the year. The tech-centric Nasdaq outperformed, rising +0.6%, extending its gains for the year to 39%.

US equity markets - Dow added +47-points or +0.16% . The Walt Disney Co rallied 13.% - logging its best single day advance since 24 March and clinching a fresh record closing high - after its annual investor day a day earlier. The company revealed that its Disney+ platform now has 86.8M subscribers and projected that it could have 230M to 260M Disney+ subscribers by the end of fiscal 2024 (up from a previous target of 60M to 90M subscribers). Disney hopes a wave of new streaming content will help fuel that subscriber boom. The broader S&P500 slipped -0.13%. Nasdaq lost -0.23%. Tesla Inc fell -2.72%, with Jefferies downgrading the electric vehicle maker to a “Hold” recommendation from a “Buy”, observing that they “don’t believe that Tesla can dominate the industry given the latter’s size, structure and politics.” The small capitalisation Russell 2000 index fell -0.57%.

US equity markets lower in the wake of the latest weekly jobless claims figures and with investors still looking for signs of progress in fiscal stimulus talks to support the economy - Dow down -70-points or -0.20% and slipping back below 3% in extended trading the company revealed that its Disney+ platform now has 86.8M subscribers during its annual investor day. The figure is up from the 73M that the company reported at the end of its fiscal fourth quarter. The broader S&P500 dipped -0.13%, paring an earlier decline of as much as -0.75%. The S&P energy index closed at a six-month high The Dow and S&P logged their first back-to-back declines since 18 November. Nasdaq added +0.54%. Twitter Inc gained +8.4% after the social-media company said it added a feature allowing users to put their tweets in Snapchat and Instagram. Google-parent Alphabet Inc fell -0.49% and Amazon.com Inc -0.09% after France’s data privacy watchdog fined the companies for breaching the country’s rules on online advertising trackers. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 index continued to outperform with a +1.0% rise

US equity markets retreated from record highs although all three major indices touched fresh record intra-day highs - Dow fell -105-points or -0.35%, unwinding an earlier rally of over >100-points and after touching a fresh intra-day record high of 30,319.70. Apple Inc and Salesforce.Com Inc were among the worst performing Dow constituents, down -2.09% and -3.20% respectively. The broader S&P500 lost -0.79% after touching a record intra-day peak of 3,712.39, with Information Technology (down -1.88%) leading eight of the eleven primary sectors lower. Home improvement chain Lowe’s Cos Inc jumped +5.88% after announcing a new US$15B share purchase plan. Energy once again outperformed with a +0.32% gain. Drugmaker Eli Lilly climbed +5.83% after flagging positive data from a late-stage clinical trial for its experimental drug designed to treat type 2 diabetes. Starbucks Corp rose ~4% in the extended session after the retailer reiterated its guidance for next year and said that it is counting on a "significant rebound" for 2021. The technology-centric Nasdaq dropped -1.95%, logging its worst single session in six weeks after touching a fresh record intra-day high of 12,607.14. Facebook Inc declined -1.93% after the Federal Trade Commission, along with several states, filed lawsuits that could force the social media giant to divest Instagram and WhatsApp. Google-parent Alphabet Inc lost -1.89%. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 fell -0.82%.

US equity markets rallied and set fresh records, buoyed by another round of positive news on the COVID-19 vaccine front - Dow rose +104-points or +0.35% . Dow Inc (up +2.52%), Johnson & Johnson (+1.73%) and 3M Co (+1.36%) were among the best-performing Dow stocks, all rising more than >1%. However, Boeing Co fell -0.67% after company data showed the planemaker lost another 63 orders for its newly ungrounded 737 MAX jet in November. The broader S&P500 added +0.28% to 3,702.25, the indices first settlement above >3,700. Energy (up +1.57%) returned to the top of the primary sector leaderboard, leading six of the eleven key sectors higher. The technology-centric Nasdaq rose +0.48% to 12,582.77. Tesla Inc reversed course and settled +1.27% higher after the electric-car maker unveiled a US$5B capital raise, its second such move in three months. Both the S&P500 and Nasdaq carved out fresh record closing highs. The small capitalisation Russell 2000 index outperformed with a +1.4% rise and is up ~30% since 23 September.

US equity markets pulled back from record highs as a fresh round of COVID-19 restrictions underscored the continuing economic impact of the pandemic - Dow fell -149-points or -0.49% to snap a three-session winning streak, with Intel Corp down -3.4% the worst performing index constituent. The broader S&P500 slipped -0.19%. Energy (down -2.44%) was the clear underperformer and led eight of the eleven primary sectors lower. Large capitalisation growth stocks, which had underperformed value stocks in recent weeks as investors looked to names likely to benefit from a reopened economy, edged +0.36% higher while value stocks lost -0.56%. However, the technology-centric Nasdaq rose +0.45% to 12,519.77, booking its 49th record closing high of 2020. Facebook Inc (up +2.1%) and Apple Inc (+1.23%) led the advance. Tesla Inc rallied +7.13% and touched a record all-time high (US$648.79). The small capitalisation Russell 2000 index dipped -0.06%.

US equity markets swept to fresh records to close the week as slowing jobs growth raised investors’ expectations for a new fiscal relief bill to help revive the coronavirus-hit economy - Dow gained +249-points or +0.83% to 30,218.26, with Chevron Corp (up +3.9%) and Caterpillar Inc (+4.3%) the leading index performers. However, Boeing Co fell 1.89% as a top company executive said the company is reducing production of its 787 Dreamliner for the fourth time in 18 months. The broader S&P500 +0.88% to 3,699.12. The Energy sector (up +5.43%) was again atop the primary sector leaderboard as cyclical sectors led the gains. Utilities (down -1.04%) and Consumer Discretionary (-0.13%) were the only primary sectors not to advance. The technology-centric Nasdaq +0.70% to 12,464.23 despite . The small capitalisation Russell 2000 index jumped +2.4% to 1,895.45. The last time all four indexes closed at a record on the same day was 22 January, 2018, according to Dow Jones Market Data.