Down nearly 200 right out the gate, then up about a hundred just before close, then down again to close near even, the Dow had a rocky ride today.  The S&P and Nasdaq did decidedly better with big boosts from Amazon and Microsoft. The bad news is that pandemic deaths passed the 140K mark over the weekend.  The good news is that vaccine trials have shown promise in being safe and inducing immune responses.  The next step is assessing the next round of stimulus, particularly due to enhanced jobless benefits expiring in two weeks.  As for Q2, one-tenth of S&P companies have reported with 77% beating consensus.  As Q2 reporting continues, volume remains below average at just under 10 billion. 

Mon 7-20-20  JULY 20, 2020 / 4:57 pm 

Wall Street closes higher, Nasdaq sets record as potential vaccines show promise

Stephen Culp

DJ:          26,671.95  -62.76                    NAS:       10,503.19  +29.36                   S&P:       3,224.73  +9.16       7/17

DJ:          26,680.87  +8.92                     NAS:       10,767.09  +263.90                 S&P:       3,251.84  +27.11     7/20

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street gained ground on Monday and surging technology shares pushed the Nasdaq to a record closing high, as promising trial results from potential COVID-19 vaccines helped investors look beyond spiraling new cases of the disease.  Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) provided the biggest boosts to the Nasdaq and the S&P500, but industrials retreated, capping the Dow’s nominal gains.

Deaths in the United States from COVID-19 passed the 140,000 mark over the weekend, as cases continued to rise in 42 of 50 states.  Trials of potential vaccines have shown promise. Most recently, drugs from AstvaraZenica (AZN.L), CanSino Biologics Inc (6185.HK) and from a partnership between Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and German biotech firm BioNTech (BNTX.O) were safely administered and induced immune responses.  “Developments on COVID, positive or negative, have become the new risk-on/risk-off binary trigger for the market,” said Joseph Sroka, chief investment officer at NovaPoint in Atlanta. “A year ago it was trade.”

“In the next few weeks there will start to be risk assessments made on how the size of the next round of financial stimulus,” Sroka added.  The U.S. Congress, still looking to mitigate the pandemic’s economic effects, was set for a week of partisan wrangling over a new relief package, with two weeks until enhanced jobless benefits expire for millions of Americans.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 8.92 points, or 0.03%, to 26,680.87, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 27.11 points, or 0.84%, to 3,251.84 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 263.90 points, or 2.51%, to 10,767.09.  Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, consumer discretionary .SPLRCD and tech .SPLRCT enjoyed the largest percentage gains. 

Second-quarter earnings season chugged along. Some 48 companies in the S&P 500 have posted results, with 77.1% of those beating consensus, according to Refinitiv data.  In aggregate, analysts now expect S&P 500 second-quarter earnings to have dropped 43.2% year-on-year, per Refinitiv.

Shares of Halliburton Co (HAL.N) rose 2.5% after the company posted a surprise adjusted quarterly profit and better-than-expected cash flow due to cost-cutting.  Noble Energy Inc (NBL.O) advanced 5.4% on news that Chevron Corp (CVX.N) agreed to buy the oil and gas producer for $5 billion.  Chevron dropped 2.2%.  Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) shares tumbled 12.8% on positive results from its competitors’ rival COVID-19 drug trials.  Electric automaker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) rose 9.5% to reach a record closing high of $1,643.

Shares of International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N) were up over 5% in post-market trading after the company’s adjusted earnings came in above analyst expectations. 

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.09-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.11-to-1 ratio favored advancers.  The S&P 500 posted 41 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 122 new highs and 12 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 9.96 billion shares, compared with the 11.31 billion average over the last 20 trading days.