We started the trading day buoyed by financial stocks — specifically large banks having just passed their most recent stress tests, now sharing the wealth with shareholders through improved dividend yields, some of which even doubled, and new share buyback programs. But this narrative seemed to fade as the day progressed; the self-policing against extreme valuations looks to remain intact.
The Dow still finished in the green, but only +0.02%, or 9 points. At its peak during regular trading today, it was up 185 points. The S&P 500 finished up +0.03% on the day, which is still good enough for yet another record closing high. Joining the index at new all-time high closing levels in the Nasdaq, +0.19% today, continuing its tremendous performance this June. The Russell 2000 showed small-caps lagging again today, -0.58%.
Summer months tend to bring along fewer mid-day headline stories that wrest the attention of market participants, but
Moderna
MRNA
rose more than 5% today on reports that its coronavirus vaccine shows signs of efficacy against variants of Covid-19, such as the Delta variant which has begun to ravage under-vaccinated segments of the U.S. population. Other reports seem to back this up; they say Covid vaccines may be giving patients immunization from the coronavirus for years, not months.
Consumer Confidence
for June outpaced expectations this morning after the opening bell, coming in at 127.3, above the expected 118.7 as well as the upwardly revised 120.0 for May. This is the highest single-month increase in nearly a year and a half — since the pandemic began, basically — as durable items such as motor vehicles, appliances and even new and existing homes continue to see high demand, even in the face of increased pricing.
While it’s true we’re basically looking at summer hours in the market these days, with trading volume on the wane a bit — without much to galvanize a bullish or bearish direction — this ought to change tomorrow with a fresh look at monthly employment numbers. The
Automatic Data Processing
ADP
private-sector payrolls Wednesday morning are expected to yield 550K new filled job positions for June.
This would be a far cry from May’s terrific +978K new jobs, but also a mirror image of the Friday non-farm payroll expectations from the U.S. government, which saw just 559K new positions filled last month with 706K expected for June. These monthly jobs surveys often do not correlate in real time; over a longer view, we tend to see the same trends play out, however. Either way, between half a million and a million new jobs per month has got to be seen as a positive for the U.S. economy.
Questions or comments about this article and/or its author? Click here>>
+1,500% Growth: One of 2021’s Most Exciting Investment Opportunities
In addition to the stocks you read about above, would you like to see Zacks’ top picks to capitalize on the Internet of Things (IoT)? It is one of the fastest-growing technologies in history, with an estimated 77 billion devices to be connected by 2025. That works out to 127 new devices per second.
Zacks has released a special report to help you capitalize on the Internet of Things’s exponential growth. It reveals 4 under-the-radar stocks that could be some of the most profitable holdings in your portfolio in 2021 and beyond.
Click here to download this report FREE >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.
Click to get this free report
