© Reuters. Nearly empty trading floor seen as preparations are made for return to trading on the NYSE in New YorkBy Medha Singh and Devik Jain
(Reuters) – US stocks rebounded on Monday when investors ignored mounting COVID-19 cases and tensions between the United States and China, betting instead on more stimulus to revive a battered domestic economy before a week filled with quarterly earnings reports.
Still, safe-haven assets were in demand with gold prices at record levels amid concerns over a diplomatic dispute between the United States and China, the escalation of COVID-19 cases in the southern and western states of the United States. States and an unexpected rise in US jobless claims last week. [GOL/]
Trillions of dollars in fiscal and monetary stimulus have been instrumental in driving the S&P 500 to 5% of its record in February.
Expectations are running low for any major announcement at a two-day Federal Reserve meeting this week, but policymakers are likely to lay the groundwork for further action in September or the fourth quarter, analysts said.
Investors are also keeping a close eye on progress during the next round of government aid ahead of the enhanced unemployment benefits due to expire on Friday.
Republicans in the United States Senate are expected to present a $ 1 trillion coronavirus aid package drawn up with the White House on Monday, which will now be negotiated with Democrats.
Apple Inc (O :), Amazon.com Inc (O :), Facebook Inc (O 🙂 and Alphabet Inc (O 🙂 rose between 1.0% and 1.9%, and were among the best increases for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. The four FAANG companies are among the 189 S&P 500 firms expected to report results this week.
“It will probably be the most important week of the year in terms of what people expect due to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak,” said Brian Pirri, director of the New England Investment and Retirement Group in Boston.
“I don’t think we will see a slowdown in technology. There were some profit takings due to the high valuations, but I don’t see them going away anytime soon.”
The technology (), discretionary consumption () and materials () sectors increased more than 1.0% each. Bank actions <.spxbk>, which tend to weaken when the economic outlook darkens, lagging behind with their 1.4% drop.
At 10:56 am ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average () rose 134.48 points, or 0.51%, to 26,604.37, the S&P 500 () rose 20.35 points, or 0.63%, to 3,235.98. The Nasdaq Composite () rose 125.71 points, or 1.21%, to 10,488.89.
Investors will get their first glimpse of Thursday’s second-quarter GDP report, which likely shows the economy contracted by a record 34.1%.
Modern Inc (O 🙂 was up 7.6% when it began a US government-backed late-stage trial to assess its COVID-19 vaccine candidate in approximately 30,000 adults.
Hasbro Inc (O 🙂 fell 6.5% after the toymaker missed quarterly earnings estimates, hit by production downtime due to coronavirus blockages.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (O 🙂 fell 2.7% on news that its chief executive, Stefano Pessina, has decided to resign.
Advanced issues outperformed declines by a 1.60 to 1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1.55 to 1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded eight new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 44 new highs and 15 new lows.
