U.S. stock markets closed mostly higher on Monday as technology shares rallied ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting, starting Jun 15. Moreover, technology shares related to cryptocurrencies received a boost following positive comments from Elon Musk on Jun 13. The Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 closed the day in green, at new record highs, while the Dow ended the day in red.
How Did The Benchmarks Perform?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell 0.3%, closing at 34,393.75, snapping its two-day winning streak. Notably, 20 components of the 30-stock index ended in red while 10 finished the day in green.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed the day at 14,174.14, up 0.7%, or 104.72 points, a fresh closing high and maintaining its three-day winning streak, on the back of strong performance by large-cap technology stocks. The S&P 500 rose 0.2%, closing the day at 4,255.15, a fresh record high and continuing its gains for the third successive session. The Technology Select Sector SPDR (XLK) and the Communication Services Select Sector SPDR (XLC) gained 1% and 0.7%, respectively. Notably, six out of eleven sectors of the benchmark index closed in the positive zone and five in red.
The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was up 4.7% to 16.39. A total of 9.80 billion shares were traded on Monday, lower than the last 20-session average of 10.57 billion.
Technology Shares Moved Higher Ahead of Fed Meeting
High-flying technology growth shares moved higher in Monday’s session, leading both the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 to new record highs, ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting, starting Jun 15.
Notably, market participants will keep an eye on the Fed’s comments and forecast on interest rates and inflation, and will also look for comments regarding the economy. Markedly, the Fed has already provided assurance that any surge in inflation is transitory.
Notably, shares of heavyweight technology companies like Apple Inc.
AAPL
, Microsoft Corp.
MSFT
and Alphabet Inc.
GOOGL
, rose 2.5%, 0.8% and 0.8%, respectively. Both Apple and Alphabet carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see
the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here
.
Cryptocurrencies Received a Boost
Tesla, Inc.
TSLA
CEO Elon Musk said in a tweet on Jun 13, that the company would resume accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment once cryptocurrency miners could show that there is reasonable clean energy usage. Notably, this allowed Bitcoin prices to recover back above $40,000 on Monday.
Consequently, shares of technology companies linked to cryptocurrencies like MicroStrategy Inc.
MSTR
and Tesla gained 15.9% and 1.3%, respectively.
Zacks Names “Single Best Pick to Double”
From thousands of stocks, 5 Zacks experts each have chosen their favorite to skyrocket +100% or more in months to come. From those 5, Director of Research Sheraz Mian hand-picks one to have the most explosive upside of all.
You know this company from its past glory days, but few would expect that it’s poised for a monster turnaround. Fresh from a successful repositioning and flush with A-list celeb endorsements, it could rival or surpass other recent Zacks’ Stocks Set to Double like Boston Beer Company which shot up +143.0% in a little more than 9 months and Nvidia which boomed +175.9% in one year.
Free: See Our Top Stock and 4 Runners Up >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.
Click to get this free report