S&P ends just shy of record as Nasdaq notches 33rd new high of 2020
Goldman Sachs says the S&P can rally 7% by year-end
Guest host Jack Hough breaks down the three most important things investors should be thinking about with Barron's markets editor Ben Levisohn, Barron's reporter Carleton English and Barron's senior writer Al Root.
U.S. equity markets picked up modest momentum in the final hour of trading, pushing the Nasdaq Composite to its 33rd record high of the year while the S&P 500 fell just short of its all-time peak.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SP500 | S&P 500 | 5712.69 | -16.11 | -0.28% |
The benchmark S&P 500 gained 0.27% to 3,381.99, ending just below its record high of 3,386.15 as Goldman Sachs raised its yearend S&P 500 target by 20% to 3,600, citing stronger-than-expected U.S. growth helped by the firm’s belief at least one COVID-19 vaccine will be discovered by the end of the year.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I:DJI | DOW JONES AVERAGES | 41794.6 | -257.59 | -0.61% |
| I:COMP | NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX | 18179.984429 | -59.93 | -0.33% |
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 85 points or 0.31% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1%, powered higher by names including Tesla Inc., which hit its own fresh peak.
Shares of Elon Musk's electric-car maker rallied after Wedbush Securities raised its price target to $1,900, up from $1,800, citing an acceleration of demand from China and potential “game changing” battery developments at an event next month.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TSLA | TESLA INC. | 242.84 | -6.14 | -2.47% |
Apple Inc. shares touched a record-high $464.35 before pulling back. The tech giant needs to reach $467.77 a share in order to become the first U.S. company with a $2 trillion market capitalization.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | APPLE INC. | 222.01 | -0.90 | -0.40% |
| GOLD | BARRICK GOLD CORP. | 18.90 | -0.15 | -0.79% |
Barrick Gold Corp. surged after a regulatory filing out Friday evening showed Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway established a position of nearly 21 million shares, worth $563 million. Berkshire also sold large portions of its stakes in JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co.
French drugmaker Sanofi SA agreed to buy U.S. cancer drug developer Principia Biopharma Inc. for $3.68 billion, or $100 per share, a 10% premium to Friday’s closing price.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SNY | SANOFI | 52.95 | -0.32 | -0.60% |
| PRNB | NO DATA AVAILABLE | - | - | - |
| NVDA | NVIDIA CORP. | 136.05 | +0.65 | +0.48% |
Chipmaker Nvidia Corp. is holding exclusive talks to buy SoftBank-backed British rival Arm that could value the company as high as 40 billion British pounds ($52.4 billion).
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JD | JD.COM INC. | 39.86 | -0.58 | -1.43% |
BIDEN MUM ABOUT TRUMP CRACKDOWN ON CHINESE STOCKS
Looking at earnings, JD.com beat on both the top and bottom lines as the company’s annual active customers rose 30% in the three months through June to 417.4 million.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WMT | WALMART INC. | 82.43 | +0.25 | +0.30% |
| HD | THE HOME DEPOT INC. | 395.57 | +2.98 | +0.76% |
| KSS | KOHL'S CORP. | 18.02 | -0.08 | -0.44% |
Retailers Walmart Inc. and Home Depot Inc. hit record highs ahead of quarterly results, which are due out ahead of Tuesday’s opening bell. Kohl's is also set to report.
Looking at commodities, gold jumped $48 to $1,985 an ounce while West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 88 cents at $42.89 per barrel.
U.S. Treasurys ticked higher, pushing the yield on the 10-year note down to 0.683%.
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European markets were gaining across the board with Britain’s FTSE up 0.61%, Germany’s DAX higher by 0.15% and France’s CAC edging up 0.18%.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.83% after the country’s economy posted a record annualized contraction of 27.8% in the three months through June. Elsewhere in the region, China’s Shanghai Composite surged 2.34% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.65%.