The Dow struck a record high yesterday as the bulls ran on Wall Street at the start of a busy week that includes the July jobs report and earnings from Apple.
US markets have been buoyant as of the nearly 300 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results thus far, more than three-fourths have bested earnings expectations, according to Wells Fargo Advisors.
Building on a record close on Friday, the Dow set a new all-time high of 21,916.67 points in morning trading yesterday.
“The Dow Jones has notched up another record-high as the bullish sentiment surrounding the equity benchmark knows no bounds,” said market analyst David Madden at CMC Markets.
“The momentum is clearly with the bulls, and at this stage it becomes a self-fulling prophecy — the more new record highs it creates, the more it entices fresh buyers,” he said.
Meanwhile, London’s FTSE 100 stayed in positive territory yesterday thanks to share-price gains for the resources sector, as while official data showed that China’s manufacturing activity had faltered in June, it was still expanding.
HSBC was also a big riser, gaining 1.8% to £7.57 per share after the British banking giant announced a share buyback plan alongside a rise in first-half profits.
Across Europe, London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.05 % to close at 7,372 points; Frankfurt’s DAX 30 was down 0.4% at 12,118.25, while Paris’ CAC 40 fell 0.7 % at 5,093.77.
Madden said that “dealers are worried the European Central Bank could discuss the possibility of reducing the size of the stimulus package, in light of the good unemployment and core CPI data from the eurozone today.”
Eurozone unemployment hit an 8-year low in June, while eurozone inflation steadied at 1.3% in July.
Meanwhile, oil prices rallied to two-month highs, with New York futures inching past $50 a barrel and the benchmark Brent contract reaching almost $53, before profit-taking set it.
Analysts said crude had been pushed higher by a mix of lower Saudi exports, a deep fall to US crude stockpiles, a weaker dollar and unrest in Opec member Venezuela.
“A whole series of supportive news drove Brent up by nearly 10% within a week to nearly $53 per barrel” on Monday, said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch.
Support for oil was felt across the resources sector, with mining and utility companies enjoying solid share price gains In Asian stocks trading, Tokyo closed lower as the yen hardened against the dollar.
The yen’s rise came as the dollar was dragged down by increasing US policy uncertainty after another failed attempt at healthcare reform.




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