Stock Market Resumes Record Run as Investors Await Apple Device Update
U.S. stock indexes on Tuesday opened higher and the S&P 500 set a fresh all-time, intraday high as a resurgence in buying on Wall Street was helped in part by optimism around Apple’s expected delivery of a fresh update to its coveted gadget lineup.
Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA rose 57 points, or 0.3%, 22,112, while S&P 500 SPX added 5 points, or 0.2%, to 2,493, marking a new intraday day high previously at 2,490.87. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP meanwhile, moved up 16 points, or 0.3%, to 6,448, trading above its recent closing high. All three benchmarks were at or near records.
Tuesday’s moves come after the S&P 500 and the Dow industrials logged their biggest one-day percentage gains in months. The S&P 500 finished up 1.1% to reach an all-time high of 2,488.11, while the Dow retook a key level, closing up 1.2% at 22,058.37.
At the same time, the Nasdaq climbed 1.1%. Stocks rallied after Hurricane Irma caused less damage than expected, and as tensions around North Korea eased.
Apple Inc. AAPL which is holding an event later Tuesday, rose by 0.3%, after Monday’s 1.8% gain. Investors expect the iPhone maker to reveal its 10th anniversary mobile phone, which reportedly has a price tag of around $1,000. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company’s keynote presentation is slated to commence at 1 p.m. Eastern.
“Today’s focus will all be on technological stocks, as Apple is set to unveil its newest iPhone, entitled iPhone X, which will feature facial recognition as well many new aesthetics and new improvements to the already existing features it has,” said Hassan Kanaan, senior research associate at Royal Financial/RFXT in Beirut, in a note to clients.
Economic data on tap for Tuesday is headlined by a reading on job openings for July, scheduled for release at 10 a.m. Eastern. Data earlier showed sentiment among small-business owners ticked up in August.
Moving stocks: Shares of Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. TEVA rose nearly 11% after Israeli-based pharmaceutical group said late Monday it will sell its Pargard IUD product to Cooper Cos. COO for $1.1 billion in cash. Cooper shares were off 0.3%.
Equifax Inc. EFX shares rose 0.8%. Standard & Poor’s announced late Monday a downgrade of its outlook on the credit-reporting agency to negative from stable in the wake of a recent breach that put the data of 143 million Americans at risk. Equifax shares fell 8.2% on Monday.
Other markets: Asian markets ADOW saw tepid gains, outside of a 1.2% rally for the Nikkei NIK which hit its best intraday level in a month as the yen USDJPY continued to fall against the dollar. The dollar index DXY meanwhile, was modestly higher, marked by that stronger dollar/yen cross.
The British pound GBPUSD hit the highest level this year after U.K. inflation rose by more than expected.
he Stoxx Europe 600 index SXXP, +0.50% put on about 0.5%. Oil prices CLZ7, -0.02% drifted lower, and gold prices GCZ7, -0.34% also fell modestly.
Article originally published by Barbara Kollmeyer at marketwatch.com