S&P 500 Hits Record Highs, Eyes 6th Straight Gain As Powell Keeps Bears At Bay; Tesla Targets 10th Consecutive Win, Bank Stocks Rally: What's Driving Markets Tuesday?
The S&P 500 index climbed to new all-time highs, rising 0.3% during Tuesday’s session, aiming for a potential sixth consecutive positive close and remaining resilient after Fed Chair Jerome Powell‘s testimony before the Senate Banking Committee.
Powell used both hawkish tones – stating that it is not yet appropriate to cut rates until greater confidence on the 2% target is achieved – and dovish tones, noting recent progress and warning that a weakening labor market could be a significant factor for a rate cut.
Markets are looking ahead with confidence to the upcoming June inflation report, due this Thursday, which could solidify the already high expectations for a rate cut in September.
Financials were the top-performing sector on Tuesday, after Reuters reported that the Federal Reserve is considering revising a key rule that could save the nation's largest banks billions in capital.
Investors also anticipate the upcoming banking sector earnings report with three major banks – JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C), and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) – set to announce results on Friday.
Commodities were broadly softer, likely impacted by the second consecutive surge of a broader U.S. dollar basket and rising Treasury yields. Natural gas rose again by over 1% following supply disruptions caused by Hurricane Beryl.
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) rose 1.8% to $57,800.
Elsewhere, French stocks, as tracked by the iShares MSCI France Index Fund (NYSE:EWQ), tumbled 1.6%, reflecting negative investor sentiment after left-wing parties’ election gain.
Tuesday’s Performance In Major US Indices, ETFs
| Major Indices | Price | 1-day %chg |
| Dow Jones | 39,474.27 | 0.3% |
| S&P 500 | 5,590.71 | 0.3% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 20,465.04 | 0.1% |
| Russell 2000 | 2,040.20 | 0.0% |
According to Benzinga Pro data:
- The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) was 0.3% higher to $557.01.
- The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) was 0.4% higher to $394.89.
- The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust (ARCA: QQQ) was up 0.1% to $497.83.
- Sector-wise, the Financials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLF) outperformed, up by 1.4%, while the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) lagged, falling 0.4%.
Tuesday’s Stock Movers
- Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) rose about 4%, eyeing the 10th straight day of rally and topping gains within mega-cap stocks.
- Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Inc. (NYSE:GS) and Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) each rallied by about 2.7%, and JPMorgan rose 1.8%, in response to the positive news on potentially lower capital buffer requirements.
- Semiconductors weakened across the board Tuesday. Industry giants such as Arm Holdings plc (NYSE:ARM), Broadcom Inc. (NYSE:AVGO) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) fell by about 2% each.
- Incyte Corp. (NASDAQ:INCY) and Vestis Corp. (NYSE:VSTS) saw their shares rise by over 4.5% and 7%, respectively, following the announcement of their earnings report dates on July 30 and Aug. 7.
- Albemarle Corp. (NYSE:ALB) fell 6.7%, on track to achieve lows last seen in October 2020, as lithium prices continue to ease.
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Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.
