US Stocks Rebound, Lifting S&P 500 To Fresh Record

Ten of the 11 S&P indexes traded higher, with energy stocks rebounding after getting hit by a dip in oil prices.

“Even though the pandemic is still with us in certain places where there are pockets of this and that, the broad shutdowns of economies are not going to happen. And I think it demonstrates that consumption patterns are super strong, which is the underlying factor that really keeps markets up,” said Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group in Richmond, Virginia.

Apple rose 1.26 percent after sliding last week. Other heavyweight technology stocks, including Netflix, Tesla and Facebook, continued to edge lower, capping gains on the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

A deepening regulatory scrutiny in China has sent jitters through the global technology sector.

Shares in US and European-listed gaming companies fell after a steep sell-off in China's social media and video games group Tencent, driven by fears the sector could be next in regulators' crosshairs.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.8 percent, to 35,116, the S&P 500 gained 0.82 percent, to 4,423 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.55 percent, to 14,761.

Data on Tuesday showed US factory orders rose 1.5 percent in June after a 2.3 percent increase in the previous month. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a rise of one percent in June.

Later in the week, focus will shift to data on the US services sector and the monthly jobs report for July.

Overall, earnings at S&P 500 firms are estimated to have climbed about 90 percent in the second quarter versus forecasts of 65.4 percent at the start of July, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

“The earnings reports continue to come in very strong or stronger than people expect, which leads me to believe that people are underestimating the strength of recovery,” said Cox. (Reuters)