The winds are howling on Wall Street today as Tropical Storm Isaias made its way up the east coast today. Unrelated, but the markets did blow higher with the Dow Jones up 0.6%, the S&P 500 up 0.36%, while the Nasdaq climbed 0.35% to another record close. Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.1%. The euro rose 0.3% to $1.1801.
Some of the positivity in the markets came from developments in the next stages of COVID-19 stimulus packages. Mitch McConnell is supposedly “prepared to support” a coronavirus relief agreement when one is reached between the White House and the dems. The $600 per week federal unemployment benefits and a moratorium on federally backed housing have both expired, as we reported on yesterday.
Disney announced earnings after the bell Tuesday, and earnings per share outperformed at 8 cents compared to the expected loss of 64 cents, according to Refinitiv. Additionally, they announced that they now have over 100 million paid subscribers on their streaming services, which include Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. As many expected, park closures impacted revenues significantly. Shares saw little movement on the results.
What would Tuesday be without tech? Apple climbed 0.6%, but Netflix gained 2.2% and Amazon was up 0.87%. Alphabet fell 0.6% and Facebook slipped 0.85%.
“We see U.S. stocks at risk of fading fiscal stimulus,” BlackRock Investment Institute strategists team led by Mike Pyle shared in a note. “U.S. employment figures are in focus this week as this fiscal cliff nears and the pandemic’s spread in Sunbelt states is starting to affect economic activity.”
Gold rose 1.8% to $2,012.38 an ounce. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.5% to $41.61 a barrel after the biggest gain in almost two weeks on Monday.
The July employment figures are expected to be released on Friday.
Leave a Reply