Stocks climb to record after strong economic data
Stocks climbed to a record after solid U.S. economic data added to evidence the recovery is gaining momentum. The dollar fell while Treasurys were little changed. Oil sank.
Most major groups in the S&P 500 rose, with the gauge extending gains into a third session. The Nasdaq 100 rallied 2%. Google's parent Alphabet jumped as the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the company did not commit copyright infringement when it used Oracle's programming code in the Android operating system. Tesla rallied after blowout delivery numbers from the electric-vehicle maker. GameStop slumped on plans to sell up to $1 billion worth of additional shares.
Traders pushed up the value of stocks after data highlighted an economic pickup as more Americans are vaccinated against the coronavirus, restrictions are rolled back and fiscal relief takes hold. U.S. service providers had the fastest growth on record in March as orders jumped to new highs. The figures from the Institute for Supply Management followed a Friday report showing that employers added the most jobs in seven months.
"It's hard to look around and find a lot of reasons to be negative," said Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird. "We had a big beat on March payrolls, Treasurys have mostly been unchanged. It's one of those situations where good news is actually good news."
Despite the gains in stocks in recent days, speculators have been pulling back their bets for lower volatility. Net short noncommercial positions in Cboe Volatility Index futures have shrunk for six straight weeks to their lowest since the beginning of December. The U.S. equity volatility benchmark fell to its lowest in over a year on Thursday as the S&P 500 closed at a record high.
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Some key events to watch this week:
- The 2021 Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group take place virtually. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is among the participants of a climate discussion on Tuesday. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell takes part in a panel about the global economy on Thursday.
- The Fed publishes minutes from its March meeting on Wednesday.
- Japan releases its balance of payments numbers Thursday.
- China's consumer and producer prices data are due Friday.
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These are some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
- The S&P 500 rose 1.4% at 4 p.m. New York time.
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.1%.
- The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 1.7%.
Currencies
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index declined 0.3%.
- The euro increased 0.4% to $1.1811.
- The Japanese yen appreciated 0.4% to 110.21 per dollar.
Bonds
- The yield on two-year Treasurys decreased two basis points to 0.17%.
- The yield on 10-year Treasurys fell one basis point to 1.71%.
- The yield on 30-year Treasurys declined one basis point to 2.35%.
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude dipped 4.4% to $58.75 a barrel.
- Gold was little changed at $1,728.15 an ounce.
