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Source: Shutterstock
Summary
- S&P 500 gained 13%, NASDAQ was down 0.50%, and Dow Jones was up 0.05%.
- Stocks of all key segments including energy, technology, and healthcare remained lower.
- Central Bank reassures markets to maintain low rates, rules out inflation pressure for now.
US stock markets ended flat for a second consecutive day on Tuesday despite the Federal Reserve’s reassertion to keep the interest rates unchanged and positive retail earnings.
The S&P 500 gained 0.13% to 3881.37. The Dow Jones Industrial Average bounced back 0.05% to 31537.35. The NASDAQ Composite Index shed 0.50% to 13465.20 and the small-cap Russell 2000 ticked down 0.88% to 2231.31.
At a Congressional hearing on Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that the central bank would keep the current rates untouched to help jumpstart the economy. He said the low rates would help address some of the short-term problems in the market.
Moreover, he said there is no major inflationary pressure that can cause concern; anything below 2% is acceptable, but the bank would consider a long-term view once there is progress. He stressed that it is not the time for ambitious employment or inflation goals set.
His encouraging statement, however, did not have much impact on the markets. Blue-chip stocks, including technology and other key industry segments, remained sluggish even as they stayed withdrawn in the past couple of sessions.
Technology stocks tanked in the opening session, with the tech-heavy NASDAQ losing around 3%, but they regained some grounds following the Fed chief’s remarks. Dow Jones and S&P 500 recovered some losses in late trading after staying in the red for most part.
Investors appeared less willing to go for big bets although the new retail earnings figures looked positive. Home Depot’s revenue was up 25% to $32.26 billion in the latest quarter. The incomes were above analysts’ expectations, lifted by a pandemic-fuelled demand.
Key segments such as healthcare, basic materials, industrials, technology, consumer cyclical, energy, real estate, consumer non-cyclical, and financials weighed down the indexes.
Image Source: Pixabay
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Top Gainers
Top performers on S&P 500 included Marathon Oil Corp (9.41%), Wynn Resorts Ltd (7.68%), MGM Resorts International (5.52%), and Vornado Realty Trust (5.33%). On NASDAQ, top performers were Marriott International Inc (4.90%), Match Group Inc (2.95%), Xcel Energy Inc (2.49%), and NetEase Inc (2.38%). On Dow Jones, Walt Disney Co (2.78%), Visa Inc (1.82%), Chevron Corp (1.22%), and Verizon Communications Inc (1.03%).
Top Losers
Top laggards on S&P 500 included Leidos Holdings Inc (-9.92%), Teledyne Technologies Inc (-4.28%), Discovery Inc (-4.23%), and SBA Communications Corp (-4.20%). On NASDAQ, Moderna Inc (-5.77%), Splunk Inc (-4.37%), Baidu Inc (-3.93%), and PayPal Holdings Inc (-3.23%). On Dow Jones, Home Depot Inc (-3.12%), Salesforce.Com Inc (-2.20%), Walmart Inc (-1.61%), and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (-0.92%) were among the top laggards.
Image Source: Refinitiv, NASDAQ Six-Month price chart, 23 February 2021
Volume Movers
Top volume movers included Apple Inc (32.92mn), Carnival Corp (26.21mn), Tesla Inc (18.47mn), American Airlines Group Inc (15.86mn), Ford Motor Co (15.59mn), General Electric Co (12.77mn), Microsoft Corp (11.77mn), Intel Corp (8.33mn), Cisco Systems Inc (6.55mn), and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (11.67mn).
Futures & Commodities
Gold futures were down 0.20% to $1,804.75 per ounce, silver prices went down by 1.28% to $27.725 per ounce, while copper gained 1.71% to $4.2200.
Brent oil futures were up 0.76% to $64.85 and WTI crude edged up 0.49% to $62.00 per barrel.
Bond Market
The yield on the 30-year US Treasury bond was up 0.65% to 2.194, while the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond was down 0.77% to 1.359.
US Dollar Futures Index was up 0.15% to 90.132.
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However, irrespective of a relative slowdown in the stock markets, the optimism of a faster economic rebound remains high. The Federal Bank’s positive assurances come as the Biden administration prepares for another round of stimulus rollout over the next few days.
It includes payments to individuals who make less than $75,000 annually and married couples whose joint income is less than $150,000 per year. Children and adult dependents would also be eligible for the $422-billion fund for the COVID affected.
The US economy has seen some upward momentum in the past few weeks. The jobless figures were down compared to the figures in mid-January when they were at the highest this year. The retail sector has also seen some progress with increased consumer spending.
