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Summary
- S&P 500 rose 0.65%, Dow Jones was up 0.53%, and NASDAQ gained 1.05%.
- France, Italy, and Germany halt AstraZeneca shots after blood-clog reports in patients.
- Stripe becomes Silicon Valley’s most valuable start-up after reaching $95 bn valuation.
US stocks edged higher on Monday as utilities, industrials, and consumer cyclical stocks rallied amid a spike in demand for goods and services as curbs ease, giving these sectors a well-deserved boost.
The S&P 500 rose 0.65% to 3968.94. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.53% to 32953.46. The NASDAQ Composite Index gained 1.05% to 13459.71, and the small-cap Russell 2000 ticked up 0.31% to 2360.17.
Stocks sensitive to economic growth have seen a rebound in recent days as increased vaccination, government spending, and plenty of accumulated cash in people’s bank accounts drive up demand. Economists say that the surge in new orders is putting pressure on the global supply chains and causing short-term disruptions, including price rise, but the situation is manageable.
American companies, they say, are grappling to get deliveries on time from their contractual partners in China and other Asian countries due to a backlog in orders and operational issues.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has ruled out a likely wealth tax speculated in some quarters as the administration draws up a plan for covid spending. She, however, indicated on Sunday that the government would look for reducing the budget deficit over time. Some Senators had last week proposed to tax the ultra-rich, a suggestion first pitched by President Biden during his election.
Bank stocks, which had taken a hit during the lockdown, were expected to come back strong this year as borrowings pick up with a healthier economic outlook. Cash-rich US banks will look to invest in the emerging growth sectors to make up for the losses last year, say economists. Also, energy, healthcare, and EV stocks were projected to grow with the fiscal support, besides industry trends.
Recent IPOs have caught the imagination of many hopefuls planning for a Wall Street listing. While companies like the Singaporean ride-hailing firm Grab are still toying with the idea, others like South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang and virtual gaming platform Roblox have seen grand debuts.
Online payment processing company Stripe Inc. said on Sunday that it raised US$600 million from investors, bringing its valuation to a whopping $95 billion. This extraordinary feat has made it Silicon Valley’s most valuable start-up. Stocks of AMC Entertainment jumped over 25 percent on Monday after news that it is reopening its movie theatres in Los Angeles this week. Software provider Sigma Labs Inc (SGLB) was among the top price gainers on NASDAQ after it surged by over 128 percent.
In Monday’s session, industrials, consumer non-cyclicals, real-estate, consumer cyclicals, utilities, healthcare, and technology stocks saw gains, while basic materials, financials, and energy scrips pulled back.
Pic Credit: Pixabay.
Also read: Cineplex & AMC: Grammy 2021 Puts the Focus on Entertainment Stocks
Top Gainers
Top performers on S&P 500 included United Airlines Holdings Inc (8.26%), American Airlines Group Inc (7.70%), General Electric Co (6.12%), and Las Vegas Sands Corp (6.00%). On NASDAQ, top performers were Sigma Labs Inc (128.74%), Oriental Culture Holding Ltd (120.38%), Check Cap Ltd (100.65%), and Rubius Therapeutics Inc (84.36%). On Dow Jones, Mcdonald's Corp (3.82%), Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (3.46%), Nike Inc (3.20%), and 3M Co (2.47%) were among the leaders.
Top Losers
Top laggards on S&P 500 included Eli Lilly and Co (-9.09%), Occidental Petroleum Corp (-4.34%), Eastman Chemical Co (-3.33%), and Xerox Holdings Corp (-3.16%). On NASDAQ, NLS Pharmaceutics AG (-16.58%), Entera Bio Ltd (-15.80%), Spruce Biosciences Inc (-15.04%), and Nova LifeStyle Inc (-13.36%) were the losers. On Dow Jones, Dow Inc (-2.24%), Boeing Co (-1.32%), Chevron Corp (-1.17%), and American Express Co (-1.04%) were among the laggards.
Image Source: EODHD/Others, S&P 500 One-Year price chart, March 15, 2021.
Volume Movers
Top volume movers included Apple Inc (21.20mn), General Electric Co (18.05mn), American Airlines Group Inc (15.38mn), Ford Motor Co (11.70mn), Bank of America Corp (9.53mn), Advanced Micro Devices Inc (9.47mn), Microsoft Corp (9.22mn), Carnival Corp (8.59mn), Check Cap Ltd (51.93mn), Sundial Growers Inc (44.82mn), Sigma Labs Inc (32.82mn), Ebang International Holdings Inc (10.87mn), Naked Brand Group Ltd (9.04mn), Intel Corp (7.70mn), Cisco Systems Inc (5.28mn), and Visa Inc (4.22mn).
Futures & Commodities
Gold futures were up 0.60% to $1,730.10 per ounce, silver prices rose 1.62% to $26.332 per ounce, and copper was flat at $4.1398.
Brent oil futures were down 0.13% to $68.72 and WTI crude dropped 0.50% to $65.28 per barrel.
Bond Market
The 30-year treasury bond yields were down 1.69% to 2.360, while the 10-year bond yields dropped 1.69% to 1.607.
US Dollar Futures Index was up 0.14% to 91.808.
Also read: Rogers-Shaw Deal: Impact On Canadian Telecom Sector & Stock Market
Meanwhile, Europe’s vaccination drive was clouded by more uncertainties on Monday after several countries suspended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine following reports of blood-clogging in patients. France, Italy, and Germany now join around a dozen countries to temporarily halt the AstraZeneca shots.
Countries in Europe have been struggling to timely procure and distribute vaccines. The European Medicine Agency (EMA) had last week authorized the Johnson & Johnson company to deliver its latest one-shot covid vaccine, but it will still take a couple of weeks before they arrive. These tensions have raised fresh concerns that the governments may reintroduce the tougher covid measures, which can have a domino effect on the markets across the continents.
