Dow Hits All-Time High Amid Strength In The Value Stocks
4:05 pm Wednesday, October 20th, 2021
The S&P 500 was up 0.5% and flirting with record highs while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.6%) has set its first all-time high since mid-August. The Nasdaq Composite underperforms on a relative basis.
Nine of the 11 S&P 500 sectors are trading higher, including the health care (+1.5%), utilities (+1.8%), and real estate (+1.3%) sectors with gains over 1.0%. The information technology (-0.3%) and communication services (-0.2%) sectors are the only sectors trading lower amid softness in the mega-caps.
Earnings reports remain a driving force in the market, particularly for the value stocks amid encouraging results from Verizon (VZ), Abbott Labs (ABT), Anthem (ANTM), and United Airlines (UAL). The Russell 1000 Value Index is currently up 0.9%.
The news is outweighing mixed Q4 guidance from Netflix (NFLX), higher input costs highlighted by Brinker Intl. (EAT), and downside Q4 revenue guidance from Dutch semiconductor company ASML (ASML).
The widely-owned mega-caps, meanwhile, are trading mixed with some consolidation vibes. The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK) is down 0.3% after entering the session up 6.8% since Oct. 4.
Aside from Netflix, PayPal (PYPL) is another heavily-weighted laggard on reports that it’s interested in acquiring Pinterest (PINS) for $70 per share. PYPL shares are down nearly 6.0%, while PINS shares are up 11.0%.
The Treasury market is behaving relatively well today with little economic data to drive conviction. The 10-yr yield is down one basis point to 1.63%. The U.S. Dollar Index is down 0.2% to 93.56.
Today’s economic data was limited to the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index, which fell 6.3% following a 0.2% increase in the prior week.
