Stocks Jump As Tech Stocks Lead
5:03 pm Monday, December 27th, 2021
U.S. stocks rose on Monday as the few investors staying on Wall Street capitalized on what is traditionally a lightly attended but bullish week.
There isn’t a positive catalyst today, suggesting that the market is being guided by momentum at a seasonally-favorable time of the year. All 11 S&P 500 sectors are trading higher, with gains ranging from 0.2% (utilities) to 1.6% (information technology).
Widely-held stocks like Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Meta Platforms (FB), Tesla (TSLA), and NVIDIA (NVDA) are up noticeably on no specific news.
The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK) is up 1.4%, but the 0.8% gain in the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) is further evidence of today’s advance being relatively broad-based. Advancing issues outpace declining issues by a 2:1 margin at the NYSE.
Travel stocks, however, are trading lower due to the Omicron variant disrupting flights and cruises over the Christmas weekend, providing investors a convenient excuse to sell. The U.S. Global Jets ETF (JETS) is down 0.4%. Carnival (CCL) is down 1.8%.
Separately, retail sales grew 8.5% year-over-year this holiday season (Nov. 1-Dec. 24), even as consumers continued to shop earlier in October, according to data from Mastercard SpendingPulse. The SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) is currently up 1.0%.
Elsewhere, the Treasury market has been quiet in a curve-flattening trade. The 2-yr yield is up two basis points to 0.71% while the 10-yr yield is down one basis point to 1.48%.
Investors did not receive any economic data today.
