US Stock Markets Push On To Fresh Records

With few negative catalysts to sour the risk-on sentiment, all three major US indexes ended the session modestly higher.

"Positive news on vaccination approvals, and expectations that the Fed won’t shock markets at Jackson Hole, are helping to keep equity prices higher," said David Carter, chief investment officer at Lenox Wealth Advisors in New York, who added "it's a very quiet market as many investors are sitting on the beach this week."

Rising US Treasury yields boosted rate sensitive financials, and sectors that stand to gain most from economic revival - smallcaps, chips and transports - were outperforming the broader market.

Days after the Food and Drug Administration gave full approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, companies and institutions are moving toward either mandated inoculation, or penalization for those who forego the shot.

The Pentagon and Delta Air Lines are the latest to enact such measures, with Ford Motor and others potentially following suit.

The session marked the S&P 500's 51st record high close so far this year.

Analysts polled by Reuters, however, see the stock market staying rangebound for the remainder of 2021, with the S&P 500 ending the year little changed as the pandemic recovery, along with corporate earnings growth, lose steam.

"Following a long run, equity indexes have cooled off as the next engine of growth is unclear," Carter at Lenox Wealth Advisors added. "Fiscal and monetary stimulus may have lost their oomph to push markets higher still."

Tame economic data, including flat new orders for core capital goods, reinforced the notion that Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is unlikely to hint at a shortened timeline for policy tightening at the virtual Jackson Hole Symposium, due to get underway on Friday.

"(The) expectation is that Fed won't scare markets, and will announce only a cautious tapering," Carter said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1 percent to finish at 35,405, the S&P 500 gained 0.2 percent to 4,496 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.2 percent to 15,041. (Reuters)