On Monday, U.S. stocks closed higher, with surging technology stocks pushing the Nasdaq 100 Index (+306 points or 2.88% to 10952) to another record close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 8 points to 26680, and the S&P 500 rose 27 points (+0.84%) to 3251.
Nasdaq 100 Index: Daily Chart
Market sentiment was boosted by positive trial results from several potential COVID-19 vaccines.
Retailing (+4.46%), Software & Services (+3.16%) and Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment (+2.25%) sectors perform the best. Amazon.com (AMZN +7.93%), Citrix Systems (CTXS +7.64%), Adobe Systems (ADBE +5.28%) and Microsoft (MSFT +4.30%) were among the top gainers.
Tesla (TSLA +9.47%) marked a record close at $1,643.00.
Chevron (CVX -2.2%) said it has agreed to buy Noble Energy (NBL +5.44%) for $5 billion in an all-stock deal.
On the technical side, about 53.4% (52.2% in the prior session) of stocks in the S&P 500 Index were trading above their 200-day moving average, and 81.2% (80.4% in the prior session) were trading above their 20-day moving average.
European stocks were broadly higher. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.75%. Germany’s DAX 30 jumped 0.99%, France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.47%, while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 eased 0.46%.
The benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yield drifted lower to 0.615%.
Spot gold price was up for a second session rising $7.00 (+0.4%) to $1,817 an ounce.
U.S. WTI crude oil futures (August) settled 0.5% higher at $40.81 a barrel, lifted by growing risk-on appetite.
On the forex front, the ICE U.S. Dollar Index slipped 0.1% on day to 95.82, the lowest level since March.
EUR/USD gained 0.2% to 1.1453. European Council President Charles Michel said he is confident that agreement on the bloc’s stimulus package can be reached after putting forward a new proposal.
GBP/USD rose 0.7% to 1.2660.
USD/JPY climbed 0.2% to 107.25.
