New stock market highs are being supported by persistently low global interest rates, continued good earnings of USA companies where dividends have become yield substitutes, and enough global scariness like the Brexit and the failed coup in Turkey to keep central banks on the beam of accommodative monetary policy, Colas said.
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Companies are in the middle of telling investors how much they earned in the spring, and analysts are forecasting yet another decline from year-ago levels. The low expectations have made it easier for companies to come in above forecasts. The company, which provides uniforms, restroom supplies and other products for offices, also reported quarterly earnings above analysts’ expectations.
The Nasdaq is up 60.34 points, or 1.2 percent.
SURGING SURGICAL: Intuitive Surgical surged $36.91, or 5.5 percent, to $708.81 after the maker of robotic-assisted surgical systems reported revenue and earnings per share that both topped analysts’ expectations. That’s what usually happens, because analysts tend to lower their earnings forecasts for companies as each reporting season approaches. All 30 members of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index advanced more than 0.2 per cent.
The S&P 500 is up 11.28 points, or 0.5 percent. Brent crude fell 2 cents to $46.65 a barrel in London.
The S&P 500 is up 6.3 per cent in 2016 after a rebound from the worst-ever start to a year sparked by worries that slowing growth in China would spread and oil’s plunge to a 12-year low.
The market’s calm has also meant less demand for gold and Treasurys, traditional go-to investments during periods of fear. The UK’s FTSE 100 index increased 0.5 percent, France’s CAC 40 index rose 1.2 percent while Germany’s DAX index rallied 1.6 percent.
The strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to the latest earnings news from big-name companies such as Microsoft (MSFT) and Morgan Stanley (MS).
Treasury prices slipped, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note adding 2 bps to 1.58%. That’s a sharp turnaround from the end of June, when the S&P 500 swung at least that much in six straight days, with one fear-inducing drop of 3.6 percent.
Six of the 10 major S&P sectors were higher, with the defensive sectors – utilities, consumer staples and telecoms – down 0.3 to 0.5 percent. Brent crude, the worldwide benchmark, rose 51 cents to $47.17 a barrel.
In commodities, oil prices reversed early losses after United States government data showed a bigger than expected draw in weekly crude stockpiles.
Silver fell 39 cents to $19.61 per ounce, and copper fell less than a cent to $2.25 per pound.
OVERSEAS: European markets were mostly higher, while Asia’s day was mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.3 percent to 16,681.89, while South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.1 percent to 2,015.46.
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“When you have prices at all-time highs and volumes relatively low, the setup is there for a couple of good earnings reports to lift the broader market”, said Mike Antonelli, equity sales trader at R.W Baird & Co. The dollar rose to 106.69 Japanese yen from 106.09 yen.
