Surging tech stocks power Nasdaq to new record

The Nasdaq closed at a record high on Tuesday, lifted by Apple and other technology stocks after an upbeat consumer confidence report.

The S&P 500 hovered near unchanged for the latter part of the day, helped by Morgan Stanley.

“I think the market is in a digestion period,” said Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager at Globalt. “We’re waiting for that next piece of information that’s going to give us an idea of how sustainable the recovery is going.”

Market participants are closely watching the nonfarm payroll report due on Friday, which could sway the US Federal Reserve’s policy stance which hinges on an equitable recovery of the labour market.

An upbeat consumer confidence report on Tuesday set a positive tone for jobs data. US consumer confidence increased in June to its highest level since the pandemic started more than a year ago, bolstering expectations for strong economic growth in the second quarter.

“If there’s a strong nonfarm payrolls number this month and we start making progress on the unemployment rate, that changes the whole Fed narrative,” said Mike Zigmont, head of trading and research at Harvest Volatility Management in New York.

Morgan Stanley jumped after it doubled its dividend to 70 cents per share in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs also raised their payouts.

All three major Wall Street indexes are set for their fifth straight quarter of gains, boosted by ultra-loose monetary policy, a rebounding US economy and robust corporate earnings.

With the S&P 500 climbing nearly 14 percent in the first half of the year, focus will shift to the second-quarter earnings season, beginning in July, which could decide the path for the next leg of the equity markets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.03 percent to 34,292, the S&P 500 also gained 0.03 percent to 4,291 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.2 percent to 14,528.

Moderna jumped to a record high after the drugmaker’s Covid-19 vaccine showed promise against the Delta variant first identified in India in a lab study, with a modest decrease in response compared with the original strain. (Reuters)