Tourists snap a photo with the market bull at the New York Stock Exchange.
Getty images
Futures contracts pegged to major US stock indices rose hours on Thursday evening after the S&P 500 closed at an all-time high and President Joe Biden signed a landmark stimulus bill.
Dow futures added 60 points, suggesting a gain of similar magnitude when regular trading resumes on Friday. Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 futures both contributed about 0.2%.
US stocks climbed to record highs during Thursday’s regular session as a recovery in tech stocks resumed and Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion Covid-19 aid package became law. The S&P 500 jumped 1% and reached a new close height, surpassing the previous record set on Feb. 16.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the relative laggard, finished at 188.57 points after climbing more than 300 points earlier in the session to an intraday record.
“While we expect conditions to remain volatile, the latest developments in three of the key market drivers – stimulus packages, pandemic news and inflation data – point to further stock gains,” said Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth. Management.
“The stimulus is significantly higher than expected earlier this year. Supplies are also likely to be very supportive for consumption and growth,” he added regarding the stimulus. “This windfall is in addition to existing signs of pent-up demand from US consumers.”
But while the S&P 500 set a new closing record, the Nasdaq Composite posted the best gains of the day, up 2.5% amid the return to popular technology stocks. Moves that carried that index higher included a 4.7% rise in Tesla and gains of at least 3% in Apple, Facebook, Alphabet and Netflix.
The Nasdaq is scrambling its way out of a 10% correction it suffered earlier this month, remaining 5.48% below its own February record.
A rapid rise in bond yields put pressure on the tech-heavy index earlier in March as investors shifted to economically sensitive, cyclical stocks. Strong interest rate hikes can put too much pressure on high-growth technology stocks as they lower the relative value of future earnings.
That trend appeared to partially reverse on Thursday when bond yields settled; the Nasdaq is up 3.7% so far this week, outperforming both the S&P 500 and the Dow over the period. The yield on 10-year Treasury bonds, which peaked at around 1.6% this month, was last seen just north of 1.53%.
Signs that the U.S. economy may be poised for a healthy 2021 abounded Thursday after Biden signed his highly anticipated $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package into law. The plan will send direct payments of up to $ 1,400 to many Americans, and will also put nearly $ 20 billion in vaccinations against Covid-19 and $ 350 billion in aid from the state, local and tribal governments.
Biden announced Thursday night that he would instruct states to make all adults eligible for the vaccine by May 1 in his first primetime speech as president.
Investors also welcomed a slightly better-than-expected reading on weekly unemployment claims, which showed that the number of new claimants for unemployment benefits was declining.