The various stock index futures reacted negatively last evening to a report that North Korea had tested another nuclear missile that passed over the northern part of Japan. In addition, there was a terrorist attack on a London underground train this morning.
These same stock index futures blew the negative items away and have pushed higher as the day is moving along. With 90 minutes to the closing bell, the DOW is ahead by 50 points. AAPL is finally coming out of its recent funk. If the DOW holds on to these gains at the close, it would be its sixth straight advance and fourth record close in a row.
BA has another huge gain today to reach a new record high of $249. 3M is also doing well. The NASDAQ is ahead by 13 and is being helped by AAPL in addition to an upside moonshot in the shares of NVDA at a new all-time high.
There were some economic reports this morning led by the August retail sales report. This report came in poorly with a decline of 0.2% overall. Excluding autos, retail sales were ahead by 0.2%. Weaker car sales negatively impacted this report…the lowest since January. In addition, July was revised lower from a gain of 0.6% to an advance of only 0.3%. Hurricane Harvey poured rain on these numbers and could have a weakening effect on third-quarter G.D.P.
Donald M. Selkin
Don Selkin is the Chief Market Strategist at Newbridge Securities Corporation, member FINRA/SIPC and provides the Fair Value analysis for CNBC each morning. The commentary provided in this Market Letter is intended to provide timely market analysis and should not be considered a research report. This Market Letter may contain, and is limited to: Discussions of broad based indices; Commentaries on economic, political or market conditions; Technical analyses concerning the demand and supply for a sector, index or industry based in trading volume and price; Statistical summaries of multiple companies’ financial data, including listings of current ratings; and, Recommendations regarding increasing or decreasing holdings in particular industries or securities. This Market Letter does not make a financial or investment recommendation or otherwise promotes a product or service of the firm. This Market Letter contains only news, facts, and commentary on information previously reported from a news source believed to be accurate and reliable by the author. These news sources include the following: Bloomberg Financial, Reuters, and the Associated Press. These are excerpts from Don Selkin’s Daily Market Notes, abbreviated and updated with permission from the author.