Stocks Recover Smartly: Dow Jumps 280 Points
4:06 pm Tuesday, August 03rd, 2021
The Dow Jones Industrial Average led the upside in today’s stock market and recovered its losses from Monday. Meanwhile, tech stocks lagged the major indexes but still held modest gains in afternoon trading.
Nine of the 11 S&P 500 sectors are trading higher, led by energy (+1.5%) despite lower oil prices ($70.60,). Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), and Amazon.com (AMZN) were providing influential support while Robinhood (HOOD) represents a pocket of a risk-on mindset.
The communication services (-0.5%) and real estate (-0.2%) sectors are the two holdouts. The former has been pressured by the video-game companies after Take-Two Interactive (TTWO 157.31, -15.90, -10.5%) issued disappointing full-year guidance. On a related note, gaming stocks in China have gotten hit amid regulatory concerns.
Clorox (CLX) was another earnings loser with a 9.40% decline after missing top and bottom-line estimates and issuing downside guidance.
Separately, the spread of the Delta variant remains a talking point, as media reports discuss the growing list of companies either requiring masks at the office or proof of vaccinations. The market is optimistic that there won’t be any material effects to the economy because of the Delta variant.
Today’s economic data was limited to Factory Orders for June, which increased 1.5% (Briefing.com consensus +1.0%) following a revised 2.3% increase in May (from +1.7%).
U.S. Treasuries ended Tuesday on a mostly flat note after spending the session in a narrow range. Treasuries were on track for a pullback from yesterday’s rally during the overnight session in the futures market, but the slight losses were mostly recovered ahead of the cash open. The market saw some more buying after the start, but resistance was found in short order near highs from yesterday.
