Going into the final close for this holiday-shortened week ahead of the 4th of July, all major U.S. indexes wound up once again in the green: the Nasdaq led the way, +0.52%, the S&P 500 gained 0.45%, the Dow rose 0.36% and the small-cap Russell 2000 +0.32%.
Admittedly these are not blockbuster figures, and trading did turn tepid in the final hours of Thursday’s session, but the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P were all up for the week. The Nasdaq closes the week at a new all-time high of 10,207.63.
In fact, the Nasdaq has put up its best week since early May, and is on another 4-day winning streak, alongside the S&P 500. The Nasdaq was once again led by the index’s all-star listing Tesla TSLA, up another 7.8% today and 101% over the past three months. Tesla, as reported this morning, was well ahead on Q2 deliveries, with demand for its fleet of electric vehicles hotter than ever.
But investors grew a little cautious going into the final bell, with a long weekend ahead and more data and news items ready for us on Monday morning. Cases of COVID-19 remain at a record pace going into the weekend, and with Independence Day celebrations likely to bring people together all around the country — many of whom are adamant in their stance to not wear a protective face mask or keep social distancing practices — we may yet see another leg up in the amount of cases.
As of today, nearly 2.75 million Americans are confirmed to have been infected with the coronavirus, with a fatality toll now north of 130K. The world’s second-most infected country by cases reported, Brazil, has fewer than half the U.S.’s deaths.
Another reason for finding caution in the markets this afternoon is the valuation of certain sectors in the marketplace, particularly tech. Growth stocks like Zoom Video ZM, momentum plays like Papa John’s PZZA and stocks within industries under fire like Marriott Vacations VAC all sport extraordinarily high P/E valuations. And with Q2 earnings season around the corner (more like a week from Monday), these valuations may not be sustainable once earnings reports start hitting the tape.
Nevertheless, as reported here earlier this week, bullishness continues to prevail in the market. And as long as there is a real appetite to buy-buy-buy, only something drastic and dire would likely break this stride. Clearly, nothing of the sort has shown up in economic data this week.
Happy 4th of July — and stay safe!
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