Big tech companies, including Facebook Inc, Netflix Inc, Twitter Inc and Nvidia Corp, were among the biggest gainers in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.
The Nasdaq and S&P 500 hit record highs Monday, driven by tech stocks, as investors anticipate a season of strong earnings while interest rates remain low.
Major technology companies, including Facebook Inc, Netflix Inc, Twitter Inc and Nvidia Corp, had the biggest impact on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.
The S&P 500 index continued its recent momentum after cutting losses, recording a third straight record high after posting its best weekly performance in 20 weeks last Friday.
In contrast, cyclical sectors fell sharply amid fears of a spike in COVID-19 cases in Asia. Financials and energy companies suffered the biggest losses in the S&P 500 sector, down 0.81% and 3.33%, respectively.
“It’s the end of the quarter, and investors may want to lock in profits, get out of the energy sector and stick with the technology sector,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research in New York.
Stovall expects stocks to continue their near-term rebound as investors anticipate a new earnings season, in which annual earnings growth for S&P 500 companies is expected to be 60%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 150.57 points, or 0.44%, to close at 34,283.27. The S&P 500 cut earlier losses and rose from Friday’s record high, rising 9.91 points, or 0.23%, to 4,290.61. The Nasdaq Composite added 140.12 points, or 0.98%, to 14,500.51.
Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit a series of record highs last week. The Nasdaq rose 5 percent in June, outperforming its peers, as investors are pouring back into growth stocks focused on the technology sector amid easing fears of runaway inflation.
“We believe that after the Fed set a realistic target, investors became much more risk averse in the second half of the year. Many of these tech companies underperformed while fundamentals were very strong before the June quarter,” said Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives, who expects the Nasdaq to hit 16,000 by year-end.
Facebook jumped more than 4 percent as a U.S. judge granted the company’s motion to dismiss a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit. The social media giant ended Monday with a market capitalization of more than $1 trillion.
On the Nasdaq 100, Nvidia Corp. was the biggest gainer, up 5.0% after major chip makers Broadcom Inc, Marvell and Taiwan-based MediaTek approved a deal to buy British chip developer Arm for $40 billion.
The S&P 500 is up nearly 14% as the first half of 2021 draws to a close, activity in some areas of the market indicates concern about potential volatility, and some investors suggest the market may be ripe for a significant pullback.
On the economic front, investors’ attention will be focused on consumer confidence data, the private sector employment report, and the crucial monthly jobs report due out later this week. Quarterly results from Micron Technology Inc and Walgreens Boots Alliance are also scheduled for this week.
On the New York Stock Exchange, falling stocks dominated rising stocks by a ratio of 1.38 to 1; on the Nasdaq, the ratio was 1.09 to 1 in favor of falling stocks.
The S&P 500 made 36 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 100 new highs and 31 new lows.
Trading volume on U.S. exchanges was 9.55 billion shares, compared with an average of 11.17 billion shares in a full session over the past 20 trading days.
