U.S. stocks rose on Monday, building to record levels on a recent rally as investors continued to be bullish on further Covid stimulus and an economic recovery.
In its longest winning streak since August, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 150 points to a new all-time high. The S&P 500 gained 0.5% and reached a record high. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6% and also reached a new intraday record.
The Russell 2000 rose 1.8% to another record high after gaining 7.7% last week for its best weekly performance since June. The small-cap benchmark is up more than 15% in 2021 as investors flocked to battered names amid growing hopes for a quick recovery in the economy.
The energy sector rose more than 4% on Monday as Brent crude oil futures, the international oil benchmark, topped $ 60 a barrel and topped $ 60 a barrel for the first time in more than a year.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Sunday called on Congress to pass President Joe Biden’s stimulus plan. If so, the US could return to full employment by 2022.
The Senate and House of Representatives each passed a budget resolution on Friday that launched the reconciliation process that would allow Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion bailout to get through the Democratic-led Senate by a simple majority.
“We are still in a bull market in the early stages of an economic recovery that is gaining momentum,” said Michael Wilson, chief US equity strategist at Morgan Stanley, in a note. “We continue to recommend stocks with the biggest uptrend ahead of an improving economic environment as the vaccines are distributed and normal activities resume.”
The airline’s shares surged as documents showed the Democrats’ proposal could include $ 14 billion for the airline’s payroll. American Airlines grew 3.9%, United 4.5% and Delta 4%. The package would include $ 1,400 worth of stimulus checks, additional unemployment benefits, and Covid-19 vaccination and testing funds.
On Monday, the price of Bitcoin soared to an all-time high of over $ 44,000 after Tesla announced it bought the $ 1.5 billion worth of digital assets and would soon accept Bitcoin as a means of payment for its products.
The major averages were just about to hit their best week since November, when the market shrugged off fears of a speculative trading frenzy. The S&P 500 gained 4.2% last week while the Dow and Nasdaq Composite rose 3.6% and 5.4%, respectively.
Biden has set a goal of giving at least 100 million Covid vaccine doses during his first 100 days in office, but warned that it will be very difficult to achieve herd immunity in the U.S. by the end of summer.
“While the economy is likely to stall in the short term as vaccinations roll through the population, it would take an epic unforeseen failure in the introduction of the various vaccines to keep the domestic and economic engine from growing faster than expected,” Tony said Dwyer, chief marketing strategist at Canaccord Genuity, said in a note.
Meanwhile, it’s another busy week with 78 S&P 500 components on deck set to report quarterly results, including Twitter, GM, Coca-Cola, and Disney. Of the 286 companies in the S&P 500 that reported earnings in the fourth quarter, 83.6% exceeded analysts’ expectations, according to Refinitiv.
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