The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared more than 400 points to a record after falling bond yields and a new stimulus package spurred investors to snap up stocks that will benefit from a faster recovery from the pandemic.
The blue-chip Dow jumped 464.28 points, or 1.5%, to close at a record high of 32,297.02. The S&P 500 added 0.6% to 3,898.81, led by energy and financials. The Nasdaq Composite closed less than 0.1% lower at 13,068.83 after gaining as much as 1.6% earlier in the day. The tech-heavy benchmark enjoyed a 3.7% rally in the previous session for its best day since November.
House Democrats passed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill Wednesday, sending it to President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign Friday. Biden said checks of up to $1,400 should start going out this month.
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Stocks ended mixed on Friday as technology stocks came under renewed pressure. Treasury yields resumed their march higher.
ReplyDeleteThe Dow set a fresh record high and added nearly 300 points, or 0.9%. The S&P 500 also narrowly eked out a record closing high. Bitcoin prices (BTC-USD) closed in on the all-time high the cryptocurrency set last month of more than $58,000.
The Nasdaq underperformed and dropped 0.6%, but came off session lows. Despite Friday's drop, the index managed to end a three-week losing streak after gaining earlier on in the week. On Thursday, it ended higher by 2.5%. But the move lower on. Friday came alongside a tick higher in Treasury yields, as concerns over fast-rising inflation and a near-term tightening of monetary policy from the Federal Reserve lingered.
The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield added nearly 10 basis points to reach a more than one-year high of 1.6%. This marked a rise of about 50 basis points from levels from one month ago. The rapid rise in rates earlier this month has sparked volatility across many tech stocks, with expectations of higher rates and borrowing costs weighing on the valuations of growth companies.