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- The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at a record high on Wednesday, while lagging tech stocks erased early gains made by the NASDAQ
- Energy and materials continued this week’s momentum as defensive utilities and real estate led the declines
- Wednesday’s performance was driven by promising economic data and strong quarterly results
- However, markets have faltered with concerns about rising inflation and potentially higher U.S. interest rates
- All up, the Dow rose 0.28 per cent, while the S&P 500 gained 2.97 per cent and the NASDAQ lost 0.37 per cent
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at a record high on Wednesday, while lagging tech stocks erased early gains made by the NASDAQ and pushed it to a lower close.
The energy and materials sectors continued this week’s momentum as defensive utilities and real estate led the declines.
“Energy, financial, materials, industrials are all outperforming,” said Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.
“They tend to be cyclically oriented sectors and tend to benefit during periods when the economies are reopening and expanding.”
The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index showed a recovery from the sell-off that caused a slide on Tuesday, while big tech companies like Amazon, Facebook and Alphabet were all down.
The NASDAQ’s Peloton Interactive hit a seven-month low following its announcement to recall its treadmills after reports of several injuries and the accidental death of a child.
Meanwhile, Boeing also fell after U.S. air safety officials asked it to provide updated analysis and documentation showing that its 737 MAX subsystems would not be affected by electrical grounding issues.
Wednesday’s performance was driven by promising economic data and strong quarterly results, which pushed both the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ to record highs last week. However, markets have faltered with concerns about rising inflation and potentially higher U.S. interest rates.
“Once you have markets hitting the highs we have seen recently, the one thing investors are worried about is rising inflation and what that means for profitability of companies,” said Shawn Cruz, senior market strategist at TD Ameritrade.
All up, the Dow rose 0.28 per cent, while the S&P 500 gained 2.97 per cent and the NASDAQ lost 0.37 per cent.
