Stock market news live updates: Nasdaq, S&P perched at new records; Dow reverses all of coronavirus losses – Yahoo Finance

Stocks rallied on Friday, powering both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 to new record closes and allowing the Dow to reverse all of the year’s losses, with investors encouraged by an accomodative Federal Reserve and a coronavirus crisis that hasn’t grown much worse.

In spite of stubbornly high unemployment data and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, traders have snapped up major technology stocks which continue to set the tone for a bullish market. On Thursday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s pledged to try and nudge inflation higher, as part of a way to help normalize growth.

Playing in the background is the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but new infections in the U.S. have appeared to moderate, and encouraging developments in the race for a vaccine has given the market reasons for hope.

Yet as a reminder of the COVID-19 crisis, Coca-Cola (KO) announced on Friday it would nearly halve its operating units and offer voluntary separation to 4,000 workers, as the world’s largest beverage maker battles a hit to sales from the pandemic.

Tech stocks, which have powered the broader market to multiple closing highs, have been led by names like Amazon (AMZN), Apple (AAPL) — which have surged to new records. Facebook (FB), Tesla and Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) have also posted their highest-ever closing levels.

The broader S&P 500 Index has now risen 8 of the last 9 weeks — up 7 days straight — and set five straight record closes. Meanwhile, the Dow has now reversed all of its 2020 losses, and now sits less than 1,000 points away from February’s record high.

In a closely-watched speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Powell unveiled a new framework of thinking for the central bank that will tolerate inflation “moderately” above its 2% target. The Fed also committed to reviewing this policy every five years. The Fed chief warned that the persistence of low inflation over the last eight years risks new economic difficulties. 

However, a range of high-frequency economic data in July broadly outperformed Wall Street’s estimates, the latest being robust personal income and spending data released on Friday. Taken together, economists now believe that third quarter growth could be “even boomier” than prior estimates, JPMorgan Chase said on Friday.

Given that “July activity indicators have generally printed favorably…we are lifting our tracking of current-quarter growth from 20.0% to 27.5%,” wrote economist Michael Feroli. The bank’s raised expectations were bolstered by data released by the St. Louis and New York Federal Reserve Banks, which also expect Q3 growth to soar.

“Even with some slowing in August-September household outlays, perhaps due to the interruption of federal income support, real consumer spending looks set to grow at 36.0% annual rate in Q3,” Feroli added.

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4:00 p.m. ET: S&P 500, Nasdaq rocket to new highs as Dow turns positive for the year

Here were the main moves in markets as of 4:00 p.m. ET:

• S&P 500 (^GSPC): 3,508.01, +23.46 (+0.67%)

• Dow (^DJI): 28,653.87, +161.60 (+0.57%)

• Nasdaq (^IXIC): 11,695.63, +70.30 (+0.60%)

• Crude (CL=F): $42.98 per barrel, -$0.06 (-0.14%)

• Gold (GC=F): $1,971.00, +$39 (+2.00%)

• 10-year Treasury (^TNX): -0.017 basis points to yield 0.729%

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12:30 p.m. ET: Stocks cling to narrow ranges, aim to end week strong

Here were the main moves in markets as of 12:30 p.m. ET:

• S&P 500 (^GSPC): 3,494.57, +10.02 (+0.29%)

• Dow (^DJI): 28,598.15, +105.88 (+0.37%)

• Nasdaq (^IXIC): 11,671.04, +45.71 (+0.39%)

• Crude (CL=F): $43.02 per barrel, flat

• Gold (GC=F): $1,981.00, +$ 48.40 (+2.50%)

• 10-year Treasury (^TNX): -0.017 basis points to yield 0.729%

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11:30 a.m. ET: Fed models forecast monster Q3 growth

New York and St. Louis Fed data released on Friday show that central bank forecasts for third quarter growth will likely be massive. The NY Fed weekly “nowcast” barometer expects Q3 of 15.27%, compared to 14.62% in the prior week. Its St. Louis counterpart dipped a bit from the prior week, but is forecasting growth of 19.4%.

The data reflects high frequency data that’s largely surprised to the upside — including manufacturing, durable goods and personal spending.

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11:20 a.m. ET: The rise of dollar stores

Walmart (WMT) and Amazon (AMZN) aren’t the only retail game in town.

According to an analysis by tracking firm Placer.ai, retailers that operate in the discount (or “dollar”) space are “among the most likely to see a longer-term boost from the pandemic.” That includes Dollar General (DG), Family Dollar and big box giant Best Buy (BBY) — both of which are perched at or near 52-week highs.

Placer.ai notes that:

The sector is dominated by players with a wide range of goods and lower costs, positioning them well in a time where mission-oriented shopping and economic uncertainty reign. Yet, even an optimistic reading of the tea leaves would still have fallen short of the unique power the space has seen in recent months. 

In fact, although Walmart store visits were still down 13.1% year over year in July (note that WMT has seen a massive boost from online buying), Five Below and Dollar Tree were down just 2.9% and 2.7% respectively. Placer.ai noted “the true king of the space appears to be Dollar General,” with the chain seeing visits grow 17.1% year over year in July, after 14.0% and 13.2% growth in June and May, respectively. 

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11:00 a.m. ET: MGM joins growing list of companies planning layoffs

Casino giant MGM Resorts (MGM) announced it was sending pink slips to about 18,000 employees — over a quarter of its pre-pandemic U.S. workforce — as the slow recovery of some casinos hits the bottom line.

MGM, whose stock popped by nearly 5% intraday, is one of several companies planning layoffs amid the uncertainty.

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9:30 a.m. ET: New intraday records for Tesla, Zoom

Two high flying technology stocks — Tesla (TSLA) and Zoom (ZM), have opened Friday’s trading at new records. As virtually everyone knows, Tesla’s been on an unstoppable tear, while Zoom is …well, zooming higher as the return to classes has teachers and students firing up the app.

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9:30 a.m. ET: Stocks open to the upside, traders try to extend win streak

Here were the main moves in markets as of 9:30 a.m. ET:

• S&P 500 (^GSPC): 3,490.42, +5.87 (+0.17%)

• Dow (^DJI): 28,509.84, +17.57 (+0.06%)

• Nasdaq (^IXIC): 11,697.14, +71.80 (+0.62%)

• Crude (CL=F): $43.15 per barrel, +0.11 (+0.26%)

• Gold (GC=F): $1,966.80 per ounce, +$34.20 (+1.77%)

• 10-year Treasury (^TNX): -0.017 basis points to yield 0.729%

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8:30 a.m. ET: Personal income, consumer spending jump in July

Personal income increased by 0.4 percent in July, Bureau of Economic Analysis (Commerce Department) data released on Friday showed. Disposable personal income (DPI) rose by 0.2 percent and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) soared by 1.9 percent.

According to the agency:

The July estimate for personal income and outlays was impacted by the response to the spread of COVID-19. Federal economic recovery payments continued but were at a lower level than in June, and government “stay-at-home” orders lifted in some areas of the country. The full economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be quantified in the personal income and outlays estimate because the impacts are generally embedded in source data and cannot be separately identified.

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8:25 a.m. ET: Futures inch higher as Wall Street tries to extend win streak

Here were the main moves in equity markets, as of 8:25 a.m. ET:

• S&P 500 futures (ES=F): 3,497.00, +11.75 (+0.34%)

• Dow futures (YM=F): 28,623.00, +155.00 (+0.54%)

• Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): 11,960.50, +7.75 (+0.06%)

8:00 a.m. ET: Coke to consolidate 17 units into 9, axes 4000 jobs

Coca-Cola plans to nearly halve its operating units and offer voluntary separation to 4,000 workers including in the United States, as the world’s largest beverage maker struggles to contain the fallout from the COVID-19 outbreak. The company plans to take 17 business units and pare them down to 9 across 4 geographical segments.

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6:03 p.m. ET Thursday: Stock futures mixed in start of extended trading

Here were the main moves in equity markets, as of 6:15 p.m. ET:

• S&P 500 futures (ES=F): 3488.00, up 2.75 points

• Dow futures (YM=F): 28,501, up 33 points

• Nasdaq futures (NQ=F): 11947.75, down 5 points

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