Topline
The stock market rally marched ahead Tuesday, as major stock indexes registered another new 2023 milestone as bullish sentiments again flooded Wall Street.
Stocks are scorching, erasing much of July to October’s losses.
Key Facts
The S&P 500 (up 0.3%) and Dow Jones Industrial Average (up 0.2% Tuesday) posted their seventh consecutive day of gains, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq (up 0.9%) rose for the eighth straight session.
It’s the S&P’s and Nasdaq’s longest respective winning streaks since November 2021 and the Dow’s longest since July.
Several notable stocks closed at their highest share price in more than a year Tuesday, including Walmart, which hit an all-time high of $166, and DraftKings and Uber, which hit their highest respective levels since 2021.
The lengthy stretch in the green reverses much of the losses of a three-month long selloff spanning August to October that sent the S&P into a 10% correction, as optimism about the direction of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy and a strong stretch of corporate earnings positively impacted sentiments.
Crucial Quote
“When narratives shift, the market response is often fast and ferocious,” explained Jason Draho, UBS Global Wealth Management’s head of Americas asset allocation, in a Monday note to clients.
Tangent
Bitcoin is also enjoying a bounce amid the new wave of investor optimism. The world’s largest digital asset is up about 25% over the last three weeks, trading above $35,000 for the first time since last May.
Key Background
All three major U.S. stock indexes recorded their best calendar week of 2023 last week. The broad rally, which saw about 95% of S&P constituents gain, came after several developments suggested the end of the Fed’s interest-rate hiking policy is near, including the central bank chief’s Jerome Powell’s rare assertion Wednesday that he is seeing significant “progress” in the Fed’s war against inflation and a jobs report Friday which revealed the labor market is cooling enough to slow the economy while keeping unemployment within the typical historic range. Lower interest rates would likely be a boon for stocks as it would ease the drag in profits associated with higher borrowing costs. Yields for 10-year U.S. government bonds, which historically move in the opposite direction of stocks, have fallen from near 5% to below 4.6% over the past two weeks.