Stocks Pick Up Where They Left Off Yesterday and Close Higher…..
U.S. stocks posted a second-straight day of gains, as the markets again bounced back following Monday’s sharp downturn. The markets continued to recover after concerns surrounding the global spread of the Delta coronavirus variant began to fade into the background and investors instead appeared to turn their attention to another round of largely positive corporate earnings results. As Q2 earnings season kicked into high gear, Dow members Johnson & Johnson, Verizon Communications and Coca-Cola all topped estimates, along with United Airlines and Chipotle Mexican Grill, while Netflix missed earnings forecasts and issued much softer-than-expected subscriber growth guidance. The economic calendar in the U.S. was sparse but did show that mortgage applications fell last week. Treasuries were lower and yields moved higher after a recent rally that saw yields plunge, while the U.S. dollar dipped after a noticeable rebound as of late. Gold declined and crude oil prices were higher as they trimmed a weekly drop. Asia finished mixed and Europe added to yesterday’s rebound.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 286 points (0.8%) to 34,798, the S&P 500 Index increased 36 points (0.8%) to 4,359, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 133 points (0.9%) to 14,632. In moderate volume, 856 million shares were traded on the NYSE and 4.0 billion shares changed hands on the Nasdaq. WTI crude oil gained $3.10 to $70.30 per barrel. Elsewhere, the gold spot price decreased $8.00 to $1,803.40 per ounce, and the Dollar Index—a comparison of the U.S. dollar to six major world currencies—declined 0.2% to 92.76.
Mortgage applications decline, Treasury yields ticking higher
The MBA Mortgage Application Index declined by 4.0% last week, following the prior week’s 16.0% jump. The decrease came as the Refinance Index declined 2.8% and the Purchase Index was 6.4% lower. The average 30-year mortgage rate rose 2 basis points (bps) to 3.11%.
Treasuries were lower after rallying sharply recently. The yield on the 2-year note increased 1 bp to 0.21%, the yield on the 10-year advanced 7 bps to 1.29%, and the rate on the 30-year bond rose 6 bps to 1.94%.
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