Some of the world’s largest technology companies led the United States of America’s stock market to a fresh record this week, extending a rally that has already added $6tn in value to the equity market this year.
Bloomberg reported that after swinging between gains and losses throughout most of the session, the US S&P 500 moved higher on news that Facebook Inc. won dismissal of two monopoly lawsuits.
Some of the stay-at-home companies like Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Zoom Video Communications Inc. climbed as the reflation trade waned.
The S&P 500 is the index that tracks America’s largest 500 companies by market capitalisation.
Cruise operators and airlines reportedly sank as governments from Europe to Asia imposed new limits on travel from Britain which is seeing a spike in coronavirus cases.
With US stocks on track for one of their best first halves in history, the debate over elevated valuations is coming back to the forefront. The S&P 500 is trading above the average of the past decade, and this quarter potentially marking the peak of a profit recovery from the depths of the pandemic.
Bloomberg also stated that demand for protection against losses in the coming months has risen in the US options market.
John Stoltzfus, chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer, reportedly wrote to clients saying, “Investors should not be looking for stocks to move higher in a straight line, but rather prepare for the economic recovery taking shape.”
“We look for progress, not perfection in the economic data this week, with the potential for any disappointments to give rise to volatility, and with results that are better than expected likely to provide positive offsets,” he was quoted as saying.
Bloomberg stated that traders will sift through readings on consumer confidence, housing, manufacturing and the labor market over the course of the week, with Friday’s jobs report forecast to show an acceleration in payrolls growth.