He moved in an atmosphere of great euphoria Wall Street in today’s session, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones indices reaching new all-time highs, as investors await third-quarter corporate results to see if they will continue to drive the market to new highs.
The S&P 500 closed up 0.77% at 5,859.85, while the Dow Jones jumped 201.36 to 43,065.22. Both indices reached intra-session records and closed at historic highs, with the Dow also breaking the 43,000-point barrier. The Nasdaq closed with gains of 0.87%, at 18,502.69 points.
Shares of McDonald’s, UnitedHealth Group and Apple led the Dow’s rise, with technology the best-performing sector in the S&P 500.
Nvidia shares closed at a record high of $138.05, with its market capitalization surpassing $3.4 trillion. It has increased 180% year-to-date, with its value nine times above early 2023 levels.
Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Johnson & Johnson report quarterly results on Tuesday, while Morgan Stanley and United Airlines are expected to report results on Wednesday. Walgreens Boots Alliance, Netflix and Procter & Gamble are expected to report results this week.
JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo opened the earnings season on a highly positive note, with early signs of a recovery in banking profits pushing the market to consecutive all-time highs. The S&P 500 closed above 5,800 on Friday, while the Dow also reached an all-time high.
So far, 30 S&P 500 companies have reported results, beating forecasts by an average of 5%, according to data from Bank of America. This is a better performance than the 3% in the third quarter. However, Bernstein still believes this quarter’s annual earnings per share will be lower than last year’s.
Nervousness remains because of the elections
Despite new all-time highs, investors remain nervous ahead of the US election, a sudden rise in US Treasury yields, uncertainty over the pace of rate cuts by the Federal Reserve and escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East .
The S&P 500 is up about 23% this year, marking a two-year bull market and up 63% since its October 2022 low.