US indices close higher as tech, consumer stocks rally

Benchmark US indices closed higher on Friday, August 20, propelled by gains in technology stocks after investors ignored concerns of delta infections that threatened to halt the economic recovery.

The S&P 500 was up 0.81% to 4,441.67. The Dow Jones rose 0.65% to 35,120.08. The NASDAQ Composite gained 1.19% to 14,714.66, and the small-cap Russell 2000 was up 1.65% to 2,167.60.

This week, the global markets have been volatile amid a rising delta virus threat and geo-political upheavals in Asia. China, the world's second-largest economy, saw reduced factory output in July.

In addition, Fed's minutes from its two-day conference last month raised concerns in some quarters whether the plans to withdraw the monetary stimulus may stall the recovery. The Fed's notes, made public on Wednesday, jolted the global markets, with major indices closing in the red. Fed officials are expected to meet again next week at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to iron out their plans.

Meanwhile, technology and consumer discretionary stocks were the top movers on the S&P 500. All 11 segments of the index stayed in green. The healthcare segment also saw significant gains.

Shares of sportswear retail company Foot Locker Inc. (FL) jumped 8.13% in intraday trading after the company reported solid Q2 earnings. Its net sales surged 9.5% YoY to US$2.27 billion, while its net income came in at US$430 million, or US$4.09 per diluted share.

Deere & Company's (DE) net sales and revenue rose 29% YoY to US$11.5 billion in Q3. Its net income was US$1.6 billion or US$5.32 per diluted share. However, the stock was down 2.25%.

Pharma company Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) stocks rose 1.03% after receiving approval from FDA for the cancer drug Opdivo. The stock of discount store operator Ross Store Inc. (ROST) dropped 3.30% a day after reporting Q3 earnings results in which it had forecast slow growth due to the pandemic.

​In the technology sector, Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) gained 2.69%, NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) rose 4.91%, and Adobe Inc. (ADBE) increased by 1.66%. Salesforce.com Inc. (CRM) and Accenture plc. (ACN) advanced 1.26% and 1.42%, respectively.

In the consumer sector, shares of Walmart Inc. (WMT) gained 0.73%, Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) rose 1.12%, and Unilever PLC (UL) was up 0.79%. Target Corporation (TGT) stock advanced 3.25%, but Diageo plc (DEO) declined 1.99%.

Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL) gained 1.10%, Facebook, Inc. (FB) was up 1.07%, and Netflix Inc. (NFLX) rose 0.90%. Comcast Corporation (CMCSA) and Snap Inc. (SNAP) gained 0.94% and 2.62%, respectively.

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Top Gainers

Top performers on S&P 500 included NVIDIA Corp (5.14%), ABIOMED Inc (4.43%), Lumen Technologies Inc (4.32%), Penn National Gaming Inc (3.95%). On NASDAQ, top performers were Regencell Bioscience Holdings Ltd (204.13%), Flora Growth Corp (43.93%), GeoVax Labs Inc (32.79%), DatChat Inc (26.02%). On Dow Jones, Microsoft Corp (2.56%), Home Depot Inc (1.96%), Cisco Systems Inc (1.66%), Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (1.58%) were the leaders.

Top Losers

Top laggards on S&P 500 included Ross Stores Inc (-2.73%), Deere & Co (-2.10%), Lam Research Corp (-1.94%), Organon & Co (-1.77%). On NASDAQ, Progenity Inc (-54.77%), Sonnet Biotherapeutics Holdings Inc (-48.25%), Endo International PLC (-40.00%), Sonoma Pharmaceuticals Inc (-23.93%). On Dow Jones, Intel Corp (-0.82%), Coca-Cola Co (-0.39%), Amgen Inc (-0.38%), Visa Inc (-0.09%) were the laggards.

Volume Movers

Top volume movers were Apple Inc (14.04M), NVIDIA Corp (11.35M), Microsoft Corp (11.00M), Bank of America Corp (10.18M), Ford Motor Co (9.89M), Advanced Micro Devices Inc (8.51M), GreenPro Capital Corp (22.55M), GeoVax Labs Inc (12.79M), Sonnet Biotherapeutics Holdings Inc (9.31M), Sundial Growers Inc (8.95M).

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Futures & Commodities

Gold futures were down 0.02% to US$1,782.75 per ounce. Silver decreased by 1.11% to US$22.973 per ounce, while copper rose 2.44% to US$4.1398.

Brent oil futures decreased by 2.12% to US$65.04 per barrel and WTI crude was down 2.46% to US$61.94.

Bond Market

The 30-year Treasury bond yields was down 0.31% to 1.870, while the 10-year bond yields rose 1.05% to 1.255.

US Dollar Futures Index decreased by 0.12% to US$93.472.