Nasdaq Ends at Record High Mon

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 35,335.71 on Monday with a gain of 215.63 points or 0.61%. The S&P 500 closed at 4,479.53 for a gain of 37.86 points or 0.85%. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 14,942.65 for a gain of 227.99 points or 1.55%. The VIX Volatility Index was lower at 17.15 for a loss of 1.41 points or -7.60%.

Monday’s market movers

U.S. stocks were higher Monday, and the Nasdaq ended with a new record high. Investor sentiment suggests the Federal Reserve could be more dovish, with a decreased likelihood of taking aggressive actions to taper and raise rates, mostly due to higher rising Covid case concerns. Federal Reserve officials meet later this week at the annual Jackson Hole Symposium. Analysts are saying Powell may not discuss tapering plans.

On the Covid front, a little more relief came as the Food and Drug Administration formally approved BioNTech (BNTX, Financial) and Pfizer’s (PFE, Financial) Covid-19 vaccine for U.S. Americans who are at least 16 years old.

Sector funds leading gains for the day included the Global X Cannabis ETF (POTX) with a gain of 4.26%, the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) with a gain of 3.75%, and the iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB) with a gain of 2.85%.

In other news:

• The Chicago Fed National Activity Index increased to 0.53 in July from a downwardly revised -0.01 in June.
• The Markit Composite PMI decreased to 55.4 in August from 59.9. Separately, the Markit Manufacturing PMI decreased to 61.2 from 63.4 and the Markit Services PMI decreased to 55.2 from 59.9.
• Existing home sales in the U.S. were up 2% in July at 5.99 million annualized, compared to 6.87 million in June.
• The Treasury held auctions for three-month bills at a rate of 0.055% and six-month bills at a rate of 0.050%.

Across the board:

• Uber (UBER, Financial) and Lyft (LYFT, Financial) released earnings. Both companies gained approximately 3%, despite a California judge’s decision to rule Proposition 22 as unconstitutional. The companies plan to appeal the decision to overrule Prop 22, which allowed for the independent contractor status.
• Cal Dive International Inc. (CDVIQ, Financial) gained 44.49%.
• KLX Energy Services Holdings (KLXE, Financial) increased 25.98%.
• Moderna (MRNA, Financial) climbed 7.55%.
• APA Corp. (APPA) was up 7.59%.
• Boeing (BA, Financial) rose 3.16%.
• Virgin Orbit is going public through a special purpose acquisition company combination with NextGen Acquisition Corp. II (NGCA, Financial).
• Bitcoin regained more ground, rising approximately 2% Monday, one day after topping $50,000.
• The 10-year Treasury ended with a yield of 1.253%.

Small-cap stocks

In small caps, the Russell 2000 closed at 2,208.30 for a gain of 40.70 points or 1.88%. The S&P 600 closed at 1,337.20 for a gain of 16.24 points or 1.23%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Growth Index closed at 14,837.59 for a gain of 283.55 points or 1.95%. The Dow Jones U.S. Small-Cap Value Index closed at 10,972.61 for a gain of 132.76 points or 1.22%.

Other notable indexes

Other notable index closes included the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index at 2,698.99 for a gain of 23.32 points or 0.87%; the S&P 100 at 2,059.33 for a gain of 17.85 points or 0.87%; the Nasdaq 100 at 15,312.82 for a gain of 220.25 points or 1.46%; the Russell 3000 at 2,650.62 for a gain of 25.53 points or 0.97%; the Russell 1000 at 2,509.73 for a gain of 22.69 points or 0.91%; the Wilshire 5000 at 46,471.45 for a gain of 447.57 points or 0.97%; and the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index at 842.93 for a gain of 3.41 points or 0.41%.