Stocks Jump as Techs Lead, S&P 500 Closes Near Record High
4:19 pm Friday, June 11th, 2021
The S&P 500 closed almost at day’s high after a range-bound trading and ended up for its third consecutive week of gains. Moreover, volatility continued to edge lower.
The modest speculative activity is likely being supported by an understanding that the Fed isn’t going to tighten its monetary policy anytime soon, and it probably won’t even officially announce plans to taper asset purchases until later this year. Economists polled by Reuters indicated expectations for the Fed to announce taper plans in August or September.
In the large-cap domain, the S&P 500 health care sector is down 1.1% after outperforming yesterday, but it’s the only sector up or down more than 1.0%. Conversely, the information technology sector (+0.2%) is providing some support amid gains in Apple (AAPL) and NVIDIA (NVDA).
Separately, the preliminary University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment increased to 86.4 in June (Briefing.com consensus 83.5) from 82.8 in May amid improved expectations for future economic prospects, particularly among middle and upper income households. Rising inflation in houses and vehicles remained a top concern for consumers.
Longer-dated Treasuries ended a strong week on a quiet note, keeping the 10-yr yield inside a two-basis point range. Longer tenors started the trading day with modest gains after rising for three consecutive sessions. However, the opening advance ran into resistance in short order with the 10-yr yield marking a low at the 1.450% level. Treasuries backed down from their opening highs in mid-morning trade, but the pullback found support once the 10-yr yield approached levels from yesterday afternoon.
The preliminary June reading for the University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment increased to 86.4 (consensus 83.5) from the final reading of 82.8 for May.
