After markets closed Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, said that US oil inventories rose by a surprising 2.2 million barrels in the week ended July 8.
Advertisement
The Dow jumped 21 points to 18,348 Tuesday, breaking the previous record that was set in May 2015.
Most index funds, a favorite of investors, are pegged to the S&P 500, not the Dow.
On Tuesday, the Dow closed at a record 18,347.65 and the S&P 500 finished at an all-time high of 2152.14. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also gained, wiping out its losses for the year and notching its highest close since late December.
The unprecedented and unexpected bounce in United States stock markets following the selloff after UK’s shocking decision to leave the European Union is making history.
After the open, the S&P 500 last traded at 2,150, up 13 points on the day; at the same time, the Dow Jones was up 110 points to 18,337. The S&P has soared 17.7% since reaching a low of the year of 1,829 on February 11. The biggest gainers included energy companies, which have been benefiting from a recovery in the price of oil; materials companies; and banks.
Shares had advanced partly on the view that the USA economy is on solid footing and on the expectation that central banks in most developed economies will continue to keep interest rates at rock-bottom levels.
Despite recent increases, however, bond yields remain near historic lows, a worrisome sign to many analysts. Bond yields tend to fall when demand for bonds rises, which can indicate that investors are seeking safety. Cote notes that If in fact earnings are down as expected, it would be the first time since 2009 we have seen five consecutive quarters of year-over-year earnings declines.
Sectors that investors tend to favor when they’re nervous, including utilities, phone companies and makers of consumer staples, all fell as investors moved money out of lower-risk assets.
JAPAN JUMPS: Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index jumped 2.5 percent, a day after soaring 4 percent.
Overall, the news from corporate America is not expected to be good, with analysts estimating S&P 500 company profits will be down 5.2% overall from a year earlier.
The S&P 500 gained 13 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2,150.
We moderate comments. Our goal is to provide substantive commentary for a general readership.
Thank you for reading and relying on TulsaWorld.com for your news and information. In this case, we may fix spelling and punctuation.
“It’s incredibly volatile out there and we’re seeing a bunch of mixed signals”, said Eoin Murray, head of investments at Hermès Investment Management. Instead, corrections will be made in a blog post or in an article.
Advertisement
Spot gold recovered from its lowest in almost two weeks, and was last up 0.85 percent at $1,342.61 an ounce. The dollar rose to 102.77 yen from 100.46 yen. Both WTI and Brent crude rose 4.4% and 4.6% to $46.80 a barrel and $48.47 per barrel, respectively. The Nasdaq composite rose 38 points, or 0.8 percent, to 5,027. The euro rose to $1.1068 from $1.1058. August-dated crude oil is down 4% at $44.94 per barrel, after an International Energy Agency (IEA) warning and a smaller-than-expected drop in weekly USA stockpiles.
