The S&P 500 Just Hit A Record High

Mon Jul 11 2016
Nikki Bailey (1336 articles)
The S&P 500 Just Hit A Record High

The S&P 500 set a record high on Monday after a stunning monthly jobs report last week boosted confidence in the U.S. economy.

The gains were broad-based, with seven of the 10 major S&P sectors higher. Financials led the gainers with a 0.62 percent rise. JPMorgan jpm was up 1.3 percent and provided the biggest boost to the S&P.

Citigroup c , Bank of America bac and Wells Fargo wfc were also trading higher.

“Reaching a new high may see money moving from the sidelines of safety trades, like Treasury bonds and gold, back into the equity markets,” said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth.

“The emphasis of the markets will be how fast and how long the S&P remains above the record today.”

Much of how the indexes perform in the next few weeks will depend of the quality of second-quarter corporate earnings, which kick off with Alcoa aa reporting results after markets close on Monday.

Earnings of S&P 500 components are expected to fall 3.9 percent compared with the year-earlier quarter, according to Thomson Reuters data. First-quarter earnings had fallen 5 percent.

Investors will also watch out for comments from company executives, especially those of big banks later this week, on the impact of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.

While upbeat data in recent weeks has pointed to a recovery in the U.S. economy, the U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to remain cautious on raising interest rates as it gauges the fallout of the Brexit vote.

At 9:33 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 74.27 points, or 0.41 percent, at 18,221.01, the S&P 500 was up 7.11 points, or 0.33 percent, at 2,137.01 and the Nasdaq Composite index was up 25.42 points, or 0.51 percent, at 4,982.18.

Treasury yields hovered around record lows, indicating a weak appetite for riskier assets.

Oil prices fell on signs that U.S. shale drillers have adapted to lower prices and renewed indications of economic weakness in Asia where refiners are trimming crude runs.

Traders are not betting on significant chances of a rate hike anytime this year, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool. The Fed next meets on July 26-27.

Kansas Fed President Esther George is scheduled to speak on the U.S. economy at a conference in Missouri at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Shares of electric car maker Tesla tsla rose 1.3 percent to $ 219.60 after CEO Elon Musk on Sunday tweeted his intention to soon publish part two of his “top secret Tesla masterplan.”

Alliance Data ads was up 2.5 percent after activist investor ValueAct Capital reported a 6.8 percent stake.

Twitter twtr fell 1.9 percent to $ 17.71 after SunTrust Robinson lowered its rating to “neutral” from “buy.”

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 2,100 to 526. On the Nasdaq, 1,698 issues rose and 538 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed 52 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 80 new highs and one new low.

Nikki Bailey

Nikki Bailey

Nikki Bailey reports on US Stocks. She covers also economy and related aspects. She has been tracking US Stock markets for several years now. She is based in New York