London, Thursday, 28 October 2021-
The S&P 500 jumped to record highs again on Thursday, as big tech accumulate gains and investors looking ahead to quarterly earnings from Amazon and Apple.
S&P 500: +0.98% to close at a record high of 4,596.36 points
Nasdaq: +1.4 to close at a record high of 15,448.12
Dow Jones: +0.67% or 239 points
Gains were led by Amazon and Apple as investors are optimistic about their quarterly reports.
In the meantime, Facebook announced a rebranding, changing its name to “Meta”.
The company will trade under the ticker "MVRS" starting 1 December.
eBay ended about 6% lower as Q4 estimates fell short.
Cyclical sector down – Q3 GDP rose 2%, failing the 2.6% expected.
Bets on economic growth nearing the end, however, are misplaced as the consumers continue to
Weaker data brushed off by U.S. Treasury yields, sending bank stocks higher.
Cincinnati Financial, bank of New York Mellon and First Republic Bank were up more than 1%.
Consumer discretionary stocks up too, led by gains in Smith AO and United Rentals, following better-than-expected quarterly results.
Ford shares jumped more than 8% on a huge earnings surprise, while energy lagged the broader market move higher as oil prices added to losses from a day earlier amid concerns about demand outlook.
European markets closed mixed following ECB meeting
STOXX Europe 600: remained flat, adding 1.12 points or 0.24% to close at 475.16 points
FTSE 100: -0.05% closing at 7,249 points
DAX 30: --0.06% closing at 15,696
CAC 40: +0.75% closing at 6,804
FTSE MIB: +0.31% closing at 26,890
IBEX 35: +0.6% closing at 9,025
The ECB kept interest rates unchanged despite inflation in Europe rising at its fastest pace since 2008. It said that its net purchases will continue at a monthly pace of €20 billion ($23.2 billion).
The central bank also said it plans to continue net asset purchases under the €1.85 trillion ($2.14 trillion) Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program until at least the end of March 2022.
ECB President Christine Lagarde said at a news conference that the euro area continues to recover strongly although momentum has moderated to some extent.
"Inflation is rising primarily because of the surge in energy prices, but also as the recovery in demand is outpacing constrained supply," she said.
"The grip of the pandemic on the economy has visibly weakened,” she said. “Higher energy prices may reduce purchasing power in the months to come.”
"These constraints are clouding the outlook of the coming quarters," she added.
(Written and edited by: The Decision Maker)