Stocks End With Mild Gains, AMC Jumps Again
4:15 pm Wednesday, June 02nd, 2021
Stock indexes moved between small gains and losses Wednesday as trading on Wall Street turned choppy for the seconds a straight day.
The midweek session has gotten off to a very quiet start that has kept the S&P 500 inside a 17-point range. Six sectors trade in the green at midday with top-weighted technology (+0.6%) providing a significant measure of support.
The technology sector owes its strength to a solid showing from many of its top-weighted components like NVIDIA (NVDA), Visa (V), and PayPal (PYPL). High-beta chipmakers also trade ahead of the broader market with the PHLX Semiconductor Index rising 0.7%.
Elsewhere, the energy sector (+1.9%) is continuing its hot start to the week as crude oil rises $0.99, or 1.5%, to $68.71/bbl. The growth-sensitive sector is enjoying support from gains among all components, paced by a 9.8% jump in the shares of TechnipFMC (FTI).
On the downside, the materials sector (-0.9%) is pulling back after yesterday’s outperformance amid reports indicating that the Democrats won’t be able to use a procedural shortcut to speed up the passing of an infrastructure spending plan.
Today’s lack of movement at the index level has masked ongoing speculation in names like AMC (AMC) and Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY). AMC has soared to a fresh record while Bed Bath & Beyond has charged back to levels from late January.
It is worth noting that Philadelphia Fed President Harker reiterated his comments from two weeks ago about wanting to discuss a taper of asset purchases soon. Mr. Harker does not have a vote on this year’s FOMC but participants should no longer be surprised by these types of comments, since the Fed has had to conduct record-sized reverse repurchase operations to drain liquidity on a near-daily basis.
Treasuries hold modest gains with the 10-yr yield down two basis points at 1.59%.
