In this photo provided by the New York Stock Exchange, trader Fred DeMarco works on the trading floor, Monday, Feb 8. 2021. Stocks are moving higher yet again on Monday, adding to a streak that gave the market its best weekly gain since November last week. Investors continue to be focused on company earnings and the higher prospects for more economic stimulus to combat the impact of the coronavirus. (Nicole Pereira/New York Stock Exchange via AP)
By Damian J. Troise and Alex Veiga
U.S. stocks notched more gains and pushed to new highs Monday, extending a winning streak that just gave the market its best weekly gain since November.
The S&P 500 rose 0.7%, it's sixth straight gain. The three major indexes climbed to an all-time high, as did a benchmark of smaller company stocks. Technology and financial stocks helped lead the broad rally. Energy sector companies surged the most following a 2% jump in the price of U.S. crude oil. Treasury yields mostly rose.
Investors have been encouraged by surprisingly good corporate earnings reports, news that a recent surge in new coronavirus cases is easing, and progress in the distribution of vaccines.
“The resilience of the corporate sector has been resounding,” said Ross Mayfield, investment strategy analyst at Baird. “The path of least resistance is still higher.”
The S&P 500 rose 28.76 points to 3,915.59. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 237.52 points, or 0.8%, to 31,385.76. The Nasdaq composite climbed 131.35 points, or1%, to 13,987.64.
Small-company stocks continued to far outpace the rest of the market, a sign investors are feeling optimistic about the economy. The Russell 2000 index rose 56.43 points, or 2.5%, to 2,289.76.
President Biden and Congressional Democrats appear to be moving forward with their own version of a coronavirus stimulus bill that is estimated to cost $1.9 trillion. The Senate and House took procedural steps late last week to pass the bill using a process known as reconciliation, which only requires 51 votes in the Senate. The Senate is split 50-50, with Vice President Kamala Harris the tiebreaking vote.
“Looks like they’ll get a package together and get it through probably in mid-March, which is when you start to see those emergency pandemic programs expire," said Tom Hainlin, national investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.
In another sign of optimism, Treasury yields continued to push mostly higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.17% from 1.15% late Friday, more than double where it was six months ago. While there have been near-zero signs of inflation in recent months, investors believe improving economic fortunes and trillions of dollars in stimulus could make stocks more attractive, and therefore make bond yields rise as their prices fall.
Energy stocks were among the big winners Monday. Marathon Oil notched the biggest gain in the S&P 500, vaulting 12.1%. Occidental Petroleum surged 12.81%.
Tesla rose 1.3% after the company said it purchased $1.5 billion in Bitcoin and pIans to allow customers to pay for their electric vehicles with the digital currency. Bitcoin was up 13.2% to $43,252, according to digital currency brokerage Coinbase.
Investors continue to watch shares of GameStop, AMC Entertainment and other beaten-down companies who have been a focus of online investors the last several weeks. GameStop shares fell 5.9% to $60 after shedding an early gain. The stock had a massive drop last week. Just this month GameStop shares are down more than 81%.
The New York Times and President Donald Trump are fighting again. The news outlet said Wednesday it won't be deterred by Trump's “false and inflammatory language” from writing about the 79-year-old president's health. The Times has done a handful of stories on that topic recently, including an opinion column that said Trump is “starting to give President Joe Biden vibes.” In a Truth Social post, Trump said it might be treasonous for outlets like the Times to do “FAKE” reports about his health and "we should do something about it.” The Republican president already has a pending lawsuit against the newspaper for its past reports on his finances.
OpenAI has appointed Slack CEO Denise Dresser as its first chief of revenue. Dresser will oversee global revenue strategy and help businesses integrate AI into daily operations. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently emphasized improving ChatGPT, which now has over 800 million weekly users. Despite its success, OpenAI faces competition from companies like Google and concerns about profitability. The company earns money from premium ChatGPT subscriptions but hasn't ventured into advertising. Altman had recently announced delays in developing new products like AI agents and a personal assistant.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
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Disney's changes to a program for disabled visitors are facing challenges in federal court and through a shareholder proposal. The Disability Access Service program, which allows disabled visitors to skip long lines, was overhauled last year. Disney now mostly limits the program to those with developmental disabilities like autism who have difficulty waiting in lines. The changes have sparked criticism from some disability advocates. A shareholder proposal submitted by disability advocates calls for an independent review of Disney's disability policies. Disney plans to block this proposal, claiming it's misleading. It's the latest struggle by Disney to accommodate disabled visitors while stopping past abuses by some theme park guests.
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