No seesaw today, it was just a shot straight up for all the indexes with services industry data picking up in July and supply chain problems and price pressures easing. This added confidence that the economy was not in recession after all despite a declining first half which has always meant recession in the past. Tech got the biggest benefit with all the major players getting a boost but especially PayPal with a 10% climb.  And contrary to yesterday when everyone still feared more Fed aggression, today that reversed with everyone more confident that the worst of the hikes was behind us. 

And despite earlier reports that manufacturing was contracting, a new report today showed solid increases in June pointing to underlying manufacturing strength. The S&P has now regained almost half of its losses from the record January high. I’ll reiterate that I mentioned a short while ago that in all of history whenever the S&P has had losses in the first two quarters, it has always rallied back to break-even by year-end. Here we are barely starting August and we’re already half way there.  It’s time to buy the S&P. Volume was above average at 11.7 billion. 

Wed  August 3, 2022  4:15 PM

Nasdaq ends at three-month high as PayPal fuels optimism

By Noel Randewich

DJ: 32,396.17  -402.23       NAS: 12,348.76  -20.22         S&P: 4,091.19  -27.44      8/2

DJ: 32,812.50  +416.33      NAS: 12,668.16  +319.40      S&P: 4,155.17  +63.98     8/3

Aug 3 (Reuters) - Wall Street ended sharply higher on Wednesday, with strong profit forecasts from PayPal and CVS Health Corp lifting sentiment and helping elevate the Nasdaq to its highest level since early May.  Data showed the U.S. services industry unexpectedly picked up in July amid strong order growth, while supply bottlenecks and price pressures eased. That supported views that the economy was not in recession despite output slumping in the first half of the year. read more  A fresh batch of strong results from companies including PayPal (PYPL.O) and CVS Health Corp boosted sentiment in a largely upbeat quarterly reporting season. Reports exceeding low expectations have helped Wall Street rebound from losses caused by worries about decades-high inflation, rising interest rates and shrinking economic output.

"We're going through Q2 earnings and, by and large, from the tech complex to consumer discretionary and industrials, we're seeing a lot of better-than-feared prints, and that's just good enough right now," said Sahak Manuelian, managing director of trading at Wedbush Securities in Los Angeles.  Apple  (AAPL.O) and Amazon (AMZN.O) rallied almost 4%, while Facebook-owner Meta Platforms (META.O) jumped 5.4%. PayPal soared almost 10% after it raised its annual profit guidance and said activist investor Elliott Management had an over $2 billion stake in the financial technology firm. read more  CVS Health gained 6.3% after the largest U.S. pharmacy chain raised its annual profit forecast after posting strong quarterly results. read more

Manuelian said an additional factor behind Wednesday's stock rally was growing confidence among investors that the Fed has already carried out the bulk of the interest rate hikes that will be necessary to bring inflation under control.  Meanwhile, Richmond Federal Reserve President Thomas Barkin on Wednesday joined policymakers saying that the U.S. central bank is committed to getting inflation under control and returning it to its 2% target. read more

The S&P 500 climbed 1.56% to end the session at 4,155.12 points.  The Nasdaq gained 2.59% to 12,668.16 points, while Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.29% to 32,812.50 points.

Additional data on Wednesday showed new orders for U.S.-manufactured goods increased solidly in June and business spending on equipment was stronger than initially thought, pointing to underlying strength in manufacturing despite rising interest rates. read more  The most traded stock in the S&P 500 was Tesla , with $24.3 billion worth of shares exchanged during the session. Its shares rose 2.27%.  Of the 11 S&P 500 sector indexes, 10 rose, led by information technology (.SPLRCT), up 2.69%, followed by a 2.52% gain in consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD).

The S&P 500 has rebounded about 13% from its closing low in mid-June and would have to climb another 15% to get back to its record high close in early January.

Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) surged about 16% after the vaccine maker announced a $3 billion share buyback plan. read more  Regeneron Pharmaceuticals climbed 5.9% after it beat quarterly revenue estimates, while coffee chain Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) rose over 4% after it reported upbeat quarterly profits. read more

Advancing issues outnumbered falling ones within the S&P 500 (.AD.SPX) by a 3.7-to-1 ratio. The S&P 500 posted two new highs and 30 new lows; the Nasdaq recorded 51 new highs and 37 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was relatively heavy, with 11.7 billion shares traded, compared to an average of 10.7 billion shares over the previous 20 sessions.