FTSE 100 hits 20-month high as Dow, S&P 500 scale new record highs

US Markets: Continuing the earnings momentum with the major corporations reporting back-to-back quarterly results, Wall Street indices scaled new record highs with the Dow Industrials nearing the level of 35,900, S&P 500 being a point away from 4,600 and Nasdaq Composite advancing a little more than 1%.

The winning streak in American equities has been thoroughly supporting the Asian and European sentiments, propelling a market-wide buying as leading heavyweight companies reflect the potential benefits of the relaxed operating environment in the third quarter of 2021 with the major economies withdrawing social distancing norms and other pandemic curbs, effectively allowing the businesses to function at the maximum scale for the first time in the coronavirus pandemic era.

Capturing the positives from the results of General Electric, UPS and 3M, the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded at 35,839, up 0.28% from the previous close of 35,741.15, after hitting a new lifetime peak of 35,883.90, the tech leader Nasdaq Composite gained as much as 1.01% to an intraday high of 15,380.77, while the broader market index S&P 500 topped a level of 4,598.53, up 0.70% from the last close of 4,566.48.

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The index just short of scaling the psychological figure of 4,600. In the present calendar year, S&P 500 has breached the levels of 3,800 and in succession of 100 points thereafter to reach near 4,600 for the first time in history, while Dow Industrials has surpassed the mark of 31,000 and in succession of 1,000 points thereafter to oscillate near 36,000. The leading barometer is likely to cross 36,000 levels by the end of December 2021, unless the American economy encounters a major roadblock due to ongoing Covid developments.

The upbeat sales of new homes in the United States in the month of September 2021 also lifted the prospects of equities. In September of 2021, the new home sales jumped 14%, beating the market forecasts, to 800,000. This has been the highest reading in the last six months. The demand has been augmented by the limitedness of previously occupied homes, as well as strong demand from Northeast and Southern regions.

US Market News: Amid the 30 components of Dow Industrials, shares of Cisco Systems (up 1.68%), Dow Inc (up 1.24%), Salesforce.com (up 0.84%), Microsoft (up 0.79%), Honeywell (up 0.79%), JPMorgan Chase (up 0.70%) and UnitedHealth Group (up 0.80%) emerged as the leader gainers. The cumulative gains were counterbalanced by the falling shares of Intel Corporation as the stock slipped 2.75%, extending the three-day losses to over 14%.

Shares of Facebook lost more than 2%, effectively wiping out the earnings gain of 1.26%. Major action has been seen in the shares of Microsoft, Alphabet, and Twitter as the companies are slated to announce the respective third quarter earnings in the after market hours.

Shares of Nvidia, CrowdStrike Holdings, Tesla, DocuSign and Amazon were the biggest gainers amid the 100 constituents of Nasdaq Composite with the stock gaining between a range of 2-8%.

UK Markets: Well supported by the Wall Street rally, the domestic benchmark index held most of the mid-morning gains in the late trade with the shares of Reckitt Benckiser spearheading the upswing. The stock of Reckitt Benckiser emerged as the biggest gainer amidst the 101-constituent pack of FTSE 100, supporting the market index, registering the sharpest single-day gain in the last 20 months.

Meanwhile, the headline FTSE 100 marked a 20-month high of 7,281.17 and was trading at 7,265.51, up 0.59% from the previous closing of 7,222.82. 

FTSE 100 (26 October)

Source: EODHD/Others

The mid-cap barometer FTSE 250 outperformed the lead stock indicator, marking an appreciation of more than 0.90%.  The index surged as much as 0.93% to a day’s high of 23,155.36 from the last close of 22,941.78.

Market Snapshot

Top 3 volume leaders: Lloyds Banking Group, Vodafone and BT

Top 3 sectoral indices: Consumer Services, Retailers, and Telecommunications

Bottom 3 sectoral indices: Precious Metals, Aerospace, and Industrial Metals

Crude oil prices: Brent crude up 0.42% at $85.53/barrel; US WTI crude up 0.82% at $84.45/barrel

Gold prices: An ounce of gold traded at $1,788.45, down 1.02%

Exchange rate: GBP vs USD - 1.3777, up 0.06% | GBP vs EUR - 1.1890, up 0.26%

Bond yields: US 10-Year Treasury yield - 1.638% | UK 10-Year Government Bond yield - 1.1165%

Markets @ 16:25 BST