Nasdaq and S&P 500 Hit New Highs as Attention Turns to Profits and Economic Data

July 12 (Reuters) – Major Wall Street indices rose on Monday as the Nasdaq and S&P 500 hit record highs, as investors waited for the start of the second-quarter earnings season and a batch of economic data to assess the next step in the stock market.

Seven of S&P’s top 11 sectors rose, with Technology (.SPLRCT), Communications Services (.SPLRCL) and Consumer Discretionary (.SPLRCD) sectors home to mega-cap tech stocks Tesla Inc ( TSLA.O), Apple Inc (AAPL .O), Facebook Inc (FB.O) and Amazon.com (AMZN.O), leading the charge.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N), Goldman Sachs (GS.N), Bank of America (BAC.N) and other major banks were ahead of their results as of Tuesday, while the banking index (.SPXBK ) increased by 0.9%.

Market participants will take a close look at earnings for early clues on the economy and growth-related stocks, as second-quarter profits for S&P 500 companies set to rise 65.8%, according to IBES data from Refinitiv .

The benchmark (.SPX) has risen 16.6% so far this year, and quarterly reports from U.S. companies would be scrutinized to justify the current valuation at which the markets are trading. Read more

“The earnings are going to be pretty telling and overall very good,” said Sandy Villere, portfolio manager at Villere & Co in New Orleans, Louisiana.

“But we are getting prices for perfection with the market at record highs and at some point you might see some profit taking.”

The focus will also be on a series of economic reports, including key US inflation data and retail sales later in the week, while watching testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell , in front of Congress on Wednesday and Thursday to hear his views on inflation and the timing of the reduction.

Wall Street has been driven by concerns about rising inflation and the spread of the Delta coronavirus variant in recent sessions, with investors swinging between economy-linked value stocks and high tech growth names .

“Inflation data is likely to rekindle some near-term concerns about how the economy will evolve,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities in New York.

“The CPI (consumer price index) and the PPI (producer price index) exceeding estimates will bring this tug of war between growth and inflation.”

As of 11:54 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) was up 67.40 points, or 0.19%, to 34,937.56, the S&P 500 (.SPX) was up 8.20 points, or 0.19%, to 4,377.75 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) is up 10.22 points, or 0.07%, to 14,712.14.

Didi Global Inc (DIDI.N) fell 4.2% after confirming that China’s cyberspace administration notified app stores to remove the rideshare company’s 25 apps and said the move could have an impact. impact on its income in the region. [nL4N2OO25U]

Virgin Galactic Holdings (SPCE.N) fell 12.9% as the space tourism company said it could sell up to $ 500 million in stock, a day after the company made its first Full crewed test flight in space with billionaire founder Richard Branson on board. Read more

Gaining issues outnumbered declines by a 1.13-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. The problems down outnumbered the advances for a 1.23-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P Index recorded 61 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 62 new highs and 24 new lows.

Reporting by Devik Jain and Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel

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